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The degradation behavior of PrBaCo2−xCuxO5+δ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5) under thermal stress was investigated in terms of phase formation and polarization resistance. The tetragonal phase was indexed in all compositions of PBCCux, and the secondary phase, BaO, was identified after thermal degradation in the crystal structure analysis. BaO formation is induced by the nature of perovskite to terminate the surface with AO layer. For pristine specimens, the oxygen vacancy peak ratio was increased from 57% to 60% according to the decrease in the average oxidation number of the B-site ion with Cu doping. After thermal deterioration, the oxidation number of B-site ions was increased, and the M = O bonding peak increased due to the decrease in oxygen vacancies and BaO formation according to the thermal stress. In all compositions, the electrical conductivity decreased from 1000 S/cm to 17 S/cm, and the polarization resistance increased approximately 200 times. These results are considered to be related to the increase in the oxidation number of B-site ions along with the formation of secondary phases.

This study aimed to examine how people choose an ethnic restaurant based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to uncover factors that influence consumer decision-making in ethnic food co...

Conductive oxides are widely studied as cathode materials for electrochemical cells, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), because of their chemical stability and high electrical conductivity at high temperatures (800–950 °C). The cathode is a key component of SOFCs, accounting for the greatest resistance loss among the SOFC components. It is important to precisely determine the conductivity of the cathode material, but it is difficult to achieve consistency among measurements because of errors caused by differences in the measurement methods and conditions employed by various research teams. In this study, the total electrical conductivity of an SOFC cathode material was measured by the DC 4-point method by investigating the geometrical parameters of the sample and the measurement terminal and the measurement device using La0.8Sr0.2MnO3+d (LSM). The measurement variables included the spacing between the measurement terminals (1 and 2 cm), lead wire diameter (0.25 and 0.5 mm), specimen thickness (3, 4, and 5 mm), and the applied current (10, 50, and 100 mA). The larger the spacing between the measurement terminal and the thinner the specimen, the smaller the standard deviation.

The change in the crystallinity of Ce–Ti oxide nanocatalysts with different water contents was investigated in terms of the local atomic structure and the surface atomic concentration. The crystallization of TiO2, which was induced by the hydrolysis of the Ti precursor, was observed in the catalyst synthesized via a liquid phase reaction employing a mixture of ethanol and distilled water as the solvent. The hydrolysis reaction of the Ti precursor was impeded in the solvent mixture of ethanol and anhydrous ethanol. CeO2 nanocrystallization occurred due to the suppression of the TiO2 crystal growth. Low crystallinity of the catalyst synthesized in a single anhydrous ethanol solvent was observed through the broadened X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak and the diffused ring pattern in transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images. In addition, the Ce–O and Ce–Ce bond lengths of the catalyst synthesized using the single solvent decreased beyond those of the catalysts synthesized in the mixed solvent, indicating the amorphization of the catalyst. It was also verified that the inhibition of the precursor crystallization during the synthesis led to the enhanced dispersion of the nanocatalyst, compared to the stoichiometry of the surface atomic concentration.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing customers’ variety-seeking behavior in the restaurant choice situations. Specifically, this study examined whether personality, involve...

The effect of diluting asbestos stabilizer on its performance of suppressing the asbestos fibre release has been investigated in terms of its penetrability into ceiling materials containing asbestos fibres. The performance of a silicate stabilizer was determined for cases where the ceiling material was damaged by external factors. The higher dilution rate of the stabilizer resulted in lower viscosities and hence greater penetration depths into asbestos ceiling materials. In addition, for cases in which the diluted stabilizer was sprayed several times onto the ceiling materials, the released asbestos fibre concentration was shown to be reduced by approximately 89% compared to the case of damaged ceiling material. Furthermore, this held true in cases where treated ceiling materials were damaged. The optimum condition, considering both performance and efficiency, is for a stabilizer with distilled water to be applied onto the damaged asbestos ceiling materials several times.

Online hotel booking is a common practice among potential travelers. When booking a hotel room, potential travelers make their decisions by analyzing limited information, such as number of rooms sold at a specific price, availability of rooms, and consumer ratings. Considering the importance of information clues that facilitate potential travelers’ decision-making, this study attempted to identify main effects and interaction effects of diverse information clues, such as scarcity, popularity, and consumer ratings, when booking a hotel room. Utilizing a 2Scarcity × 2Popularity × 2Ratings factorial design, popularity and consumer ratings had main effects on the booking intention. In addition, the interaction effect of scarcity and popularity was identified. More implications are discussed in the main body of this paper.

People, in general, follow others’ choices or opinions. This phenomenon has been defined as herd behavior. Accordingly, this study utilized the concept of herd behavior, and examined whether restaurant customers follow others’ choices or opinions, especially when they choose a restaurant in an unfamiliar place. Two different stimuli were considered “others’ choice”—online review ratings and consumers’ last minute observations on the crowdedness of the restaurant. By adopting experimental design (3 Crowdedness × 2 Review Rating), this study found that customers’ intention to choose a restaurant was significantly influenced by crowdedness when customers are choosing a dine-in restaurant. Comparably, a high review rating stimulated customers’ intention to choose in the case of both dine-in and take-out restaurants. Interaction effects were significant, suggesting that individuals make decisions based on both the crowdedness and review ratings of restaurants. Detailed results and discussion are follow...

The doping effect of (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 (NKN) on the dielectric properties of BaTiO3 have been investigated through the local atomic structure analyses. The dielectric constant of a specimen with x=0.05 was about 105% higher than that of pure BaTiO3. Through Ti K-edge x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, it could be determined that the improved dielectric properties are due to the donor substitution by Nb-doping in the B-site. An increase in the XANES intensities with x indicates an increase in degree of hybridization, relating to the donor level, which leads to an increase in conduction electrons. Thus, the enhancement of the dielectric properties is attributed to the increased polarization interaction between the conduction electrons and the relaxation mode. The polarization of the electrons is confirmed by the comparative analysis of bond length data between Ti O and Nb O, derived from Ti and Nb K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy.

The purpose of this study was to identify how customers’ cultural experiences influence their emotions regarding the authenticity of ethnic restaurants, which in turn affects perceived dining value and future behavioral intentions. The results of the study showed that customer’s experiences with a particular culture are a significant factor for eliciting positive emotions regarding the authenticity of Korean food-related attributes and environmental factors in Korean restaurants. This study also uncovered that positive emotion connected with authenticity leads to better perceptions of dining value and more favorable behavioral intentions. This study contributes to the literature regarding ethnic restaurants, which is helpful in understanding the relationship between ethnic-food-related behaviors and culture.

Objectives: This study is designed to analyze the penetration performance into ceiling materials containing asbestos of scattering prevention agents and investigate the change in penetration depth and viscosity according to the dilution rate of anti-scattering agents diluted with distilled water. Methods: Five different types of scattering prevention agents were spread on plate-type asbestos ceiling materials. The penetration depth of each coated ceiling material was measured by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results of the non-coated ceiling materials. Test equipment installed the ceiling materials and 60 minutes were collected at a flow rate of 10 l/min at a filter of 25 mm. Results: An EDS analysis of the cross-section of ceiling materials constructed with a scattering prevention agent revealed that potassium is detected in the process of penetrating hardener solidification and this element could be an indicator for infiltration. When anti-scattering agents with different viscosities were constructed and the penetration depth was analyzed by potassium detection assessment using EDS, the depth results with viscosities of 5.0, 2.5, and 1.9 cP were 98.5, 103, and 147 μm, respectively. Penetration performance improved with decrease in viscosity. Conclusions: For asbestos ceiling materials, it is concluded that a higher dilution rate of the scattering prevention agent leads to lower viscosity, and hence a deeper penetration depth from 156 ㎛ to 3 mm. The asbestos anti-scattering properties according to the penetration depth will be confirmed through further study.

Interfacial characteristics and diffusion behavior of Ti 1− x Zr x N coatings under thermomechanical stress were investigated, in terms of morphologies and depth profiles, after pulsed laser ablation. TiZrN coatings were deposited on SUS304 substrates, using TiZr compound targets with Ti:Zr wt.% ratio of 90:10, 70:30, and 50:50. XRD patterns showed the same growth orientations of TiN and ZrN as (1 1 1), (2 0 0), and (2 2 0) in all coating specimens. The lattice parameters and the microhardness increased through solid solution with the substitutions of Zr to the Ti sites. Spalling of the coating layer was observed in the specimen of 10% wt.% Zr ratio after laser ablation. Delamination was suppressed as the substitution of Zr increased, and it could be attributed to the formation of ZrN which can promote heat transfer in the coating layer faster than TiN. SIMS depth profiles revealed that the diffusion distance of the coating (Ti, Zr) and the substrate (Cr, Fe) atoms decreased, due to diffusion path reduction by the solid solution effects.

The purpose of this study was to identify whether first-time visitors and behavioral loyal customers perceive the quality of the food, employee service, and atmospherics of Korean restaurants differently. This study is unique in that it helps restaurateurs understand how non-loyal customers become loyal customers. Overall, first-time customers with a high intention to revisit perceived the quality as higher than those with lower intentions to revisit. Also, behavioral loyal customers evaluated food related attributes more highly, whereas first-time visitors with high intentions to revisit perceived the atmospherics related attributes more highly. This study suggested some practical advice for Korean restaurateurs based on the findings. Although environmental elements are substantial factors for first-time visitors in terms of revisit intentions, Korean restaurateurs also need to stress spicy taste and food variety if they want first-time visitors to become behavioral loyal customers.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify diners ' fundamental reasons for seeking variety in their choice of a restaurant and to understand their variety-seeking intentions from the perspective of personality characteristics. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire and 309 usable responses were collected. To test the hypothesized relationships, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed. A multiple group analysis was also conducted to test the moderating effects of personality characteristics. Findings – The results suggested that diners ' desired values are more critical than prior dining experiences in determining variety seeking intentions. Further, satisfaction and desired hedonic/utilitarian values differently affect variety seeking intentions across high and low allocentric personality groups. Practical implications – Regarding personality types, satisfaction and desired values were found to have a significant impact on variety seeking intentions in the high allocentric group, but not the low allocentric group. This suggests that the restaurant industry could develop effective marketing strategies by considering their target customers ' personality characteristics. Originality/value – This study is unique in that it identified customers ' fundamental reasons for seeking variety in consumption situations, particularly in terms of restaurant choice. This study also considered individuals ' personality characteristics associated with optimal stimulation level in order to understand why consumers seek variety.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify consumer‐dining values for each restaurant segment (fast food restaurants, casual restaurants, and fine dining restaurants) using a means‐end approach and to suggest useful information for restaurant operators to develop differential marketing strategies for each segment.Design/methodology/approachThis study applied a means‐end chain approach to identify underlying consumer values across three different restaurant segments. The participants responded to questions in a one‐on‐one interview procedure regarding attributes of restaurants, consequences, and values. Based on the responses, hierarchical value maps were developed to better understand consumer value patterns across the three restaurant segments.FindingsThe results suggested that attributes of fast food restaurants were largely associated with convenience, success, and economic values; attributes of casual dining restaurants were related to emotional and belonging values; and attributes provided by fine dining restaurants were linked to emotion and quality life values.Practical implicationsThis research suggested what customers really want from the dining experience so that restaurant operators in each restaurant segment can develop effective marketing strategies, such as advertisements or promotions, which are distinguished from other competitive restaurants.Originality/valueBy using a means‐end chain approach, this study showed a holistic picture of the consumer dining values customers desire when they visit each restaurant segment, which is a unique contribution of this study.

The purpose of this study was to identify variety drivers in restaurant settings and to examine their influence on diners’ variety seeking intentions. More specifically, this study considered perceived quality, customer satisfaction, overall boredom, and boredom with restaurant attributes as variety drivers and examined how they affect customers’ variety seeking intentions. Further, this study investigated the moderating role of personality characteristics and overall loyalty level toward a restaurant in the relationship between variety drivers and variety seeking intentions. The results showed that atmospheric quality, overall boredom, and boredom with atmospheric attributes significantly influence variety seeking intentions. Personality characteristics reflecting optimal stimulation level also played a moderating role in the relationship between overall boredom and variety seeking intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided in the conclusion.

This study intended to identify how dining factors in an ethnic restaurant setting influence customers’ emotions and perceived value and further affect customers’ future behavioral intentions. In particular, this study modified the extended Mehrabian–Russell model by adding the authenticity of food and atmospherics to examine how ethnic authenticity influences customer behavioral intentions. In addition, the moderating role of the restaurant segment was examined in this study. In regards to authenticity, authentic aspects of the food induced positive emotions and higher perceived value, while authentic environmental factors led to positive emotions alone. The results regarding the moderating effect of the restaurant segment showed that environmental dining factors were more important for up-scale Korean restaurants, whereas food related attributes appeared more critical for casual-dining Korean restaurants. More detailed findings and implications are discussed in the manuscript.

PurposeThis study aims to identify how the perception of atmospherics in an ethnic restaurant setting influences customers' perceptions of service quality and food quality, as well as the extent to which perceptions of quality mediate the relationship between perception of atmospherics and customer behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the mediating effects of quality perception, and also performed multiple regression analyses to identify the influences of specific environmental factors on quality perception and behavioral intentions.FindingsPerceived quality regarding services and foods had a partially mediating effect. Further, the indirect effect of perceived atmospherics on behavioral intentions through perceived quality was greater than the direct effect.Research limitations/implicationsThis study emphasized the important role of atmospherics on quality perception to induce favorable behavioral intentions, suggesting that atmospherics could enhance or attenuate customers' perceived quality.Practical implicationsThe environment may encourage customers to perceive service and food quality correctly, or even more positively, regardless of the actual quality level. In this respect, restaurateurs should increase their efforts to provide a better environment, which will encourage customers to evaluate the quality of services or foods more highly.Originality/valueThis study extended the existing literature by postulating the direct impact of perceived atmospherics on customers' behaviors by proposing that quality perceptions act as a link between atmospherics and behavioral intentions.

This study examined consumer value in three different restaurant segments: fast food, casual dining, and fine dining restaurants. Specifically, the study identified perceived importance and performance regarding consumer values using importance-performance analysis. In addition, the effects of the restaurant segments' performance of each consumer value on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions were examined. This study adds to the present restaurant marketing literature by identifying customer's end goals for visiting each restaurant segment. The findings of the study present the current situation for each restaurant segment in terms of consumer value and offers effective marketing strategies to satisfy customers' desired values.

This study examined American customers’ perceptions of values regarding dining experiences in Korean restaurants in the United States. Specifically, the effects of hedonic and utilitarian values on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions were investigated. This study also examined the moderating effect of familiarity with Korean restaurants on the relationships among perceived values, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Overall, the results indicated that American customers valued the utilitarian aspects of Korean restaurants more than the hedonic aspects. Additionally, utilitarian aspects had a stronger impact on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions than hedonic aspects. However, when considering customers’ familiarity level with the restaurants, hedonic aspects more effectively induced positive behavioral intentions in the low familiarity group, proving that familiarity has a moderating role. Conversely, utilitarian aspects appeared to be more influential in terms of the behavioral intentions of the high familiarity group. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

This study examined restaurant customers’ perceptions of justice according to service recovery effort levels and whether perceived justice influences customers’ future behavioral intentions. This study also investigated whether the effects of perceived justice on future behavioral intentions vary across customers’ relationship quality levels. The results showed that high recovery efforts were consistently evaluated highly in terms of perceived justice when compared to low recovery efforts, regardless of the level of relationship quality. Additionally, perceived justice brought about by service recovery efforts has a positive effect on customers’ future behavioral intentions. Hierarchical regression analyses suggested that relationship quality plays a moderating role between perceived justice and behavioral intentions in the distributive and procedural justice dimensions. Implications for the restaurant industry are also discussed.

The doping effect of (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 (NKN) as alternatives for rare-earth elements on the electrical properties of BaTiO3 has been investigated, in terms of their substitution behavior. The dielectric constant of a specimen with x = 0.05 was about 79% higher than that of pure BaTiO3, and the temperature coefficient of capacitance was satisfied by the X7R specification. The specimen with x = 0.05 showed the lowest tetragonality among the four compositions and had a fine grain size of