A hospitality & tourism analytics lab at Kyungsung University -- training researchers from twelve countries in big data, eye-tracking, and bibliometric methods.
BAR LAB was founded in 2011 by Prof. Hak-Seon Kim at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Kyungsung University.
The original Korean name -- 서비스경영연구실 (Service Management Lab) -- captured the early focus on Korean food-service operations and consumer behavior. As the lab grew international and the methods diversified into bibliometrics, eye-tracking, and cross-cultural validation, the broader name Business Analytics Research Lab took its place.
We translate noisy consumer signals -- reviews, gaze, surveys, social posts -- into actionable understanding of how service industries actually behave.
The lab pairs rigorous quantitative methods with industry-tested intuition. Members come from twelve countries and bring their own cultural and market lenses to research. We publish in SSCI/SCIE venues, advise companies, and increasingly, build our own research instruments -- including the eye-tracking platform at wtbd.site.
Twenty-eight doctoral graduates now lead departments, run consultancies, and manage hospitality operations across Korea, China, Vietnam, and Mongolia.
Many alumni return as faculty colleagues -- what we call re-lab: graduates of the MS or PhD programs who now teach at Kyungsung Global College and continue collaborating on research. This produces an unusual depth of institutional memory and methodological continuity.
서비스경영연구실 established at Kyungsung University, the same year Prof. Kim joined the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management as faculty.
Jeong-Min Sohn (#01) defends the lab's first master's thesis: an IPA differentiation strategy for Japanese restaurants.
Hee-Rang Lim defends a TPB-based study on eco-friendly food and healthful menu purchase intentions.
WTBD Research Institute founded -- extending lab capacity for large-scale review and behavior data collection.
First non-Korean MS thesis from the lab. Within five years, members from Indonesia, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and beyond.
Prof. Kim becomes Founding Dean (초대 국제처장, 2020-2023), expanding the university's globalization infrastructure and supporting BAR LAB's international researchers.
First MS graduates return as faculty after PhD elsewhere. Hailey Choi (MS 2018 → Ole Miss PhD 2023 → Texas Tech faculty) typifies the long-arc trajectory.
Prof. Kim founds Kyungsung Global College as Founding Dean (2024-2025). Several BAR LAB PhD graduates take faculty positions, building the Hospitality and Business curricula.
Prof. Kim joins the University of Mississippi (Department of Nutrition & Hospitality Management) as Visiting Scholar for Spring-Fall 2026, expanding U.S. research collaborations.
wtbd.site enters production with WebGazer.js + Cloudflare D1 backend. BAR LAB website (this one) goes live.