Purpose – Given the increasing importance of food in tourist activities and destination choice, the purpose of this paper is to reveal a comprehensive measurement scale to evaluate the image of destination food, adopting procedures recommended by previous studies. Design/methodology/approach – The procedure in this study followed two steps: first, item generation including literature review and focus groups; and second, scale purification. Scale purification included exploratory factor analysis to derive an initial factor structure and reliability assessment and confirmatory factor analysis to test the theoretical factor structure and assess validity. Findings – The scale development procedure yielded five dimensions of destination food image: “food safety and quality,” “attractiveness of food,” “health benefits of food,” “food culture,” and “unique culinary arts.” Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the food-related tourism literature by measuring destination food image based on...

Multi-dimensional scale to measure destination food image: case of Korean food

: Bulgogi (Korean traditional barbecued beef) is the most well-known Korean food to foreigners. There are, however, few studies on its sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability. This study was performed to identify the sensory attributes of Bulgogi samples prepared with different formulation and to compare the consumer acceptability in Korea and the United States. Bulgogi samples were prepared with varying levels of sugar and soy sauce with/without garlic or sesame oil. Descriptive analysis was conducted by 8 trained panelists. In consumer tests, 42 consumers in Seoul, Korea, 53 consumers in Davis (Calif., U.S.A.), and 39 consumers in St. Paul (Minn., U.S.A.) participated. Higher levels of sugar and soy sauce (SSS) significantly increased sweetness, saltiness, MSG taste, and soy sauce odor/flavor compared to the control made with the standard formula (CON). Elimination of sesame oil (ESO) significantly decreased sesame oil odor/flavor and oiliness, but increased green onion flavor. Elimination of garlic (EGC) significantly increased grilled beef odor/flavor, sesame oil odor/flavor, and oiliness, but decreased intensities of all the other attributes except bitterness. The consumers in Korea and the United States rated their overall liking for all samples similarly, preferring SSS to CON, EGC, and ESO. However Korean consumers seemed to detect the differences caused by formulation changes better than the U.S. consumers and these perceived differences seemed to impact the hedonic and the just-about-right ratings. Increase in soy sauce and sugar increased both Korean and the U.S. consumers’ acceptability of Bulgogi, whereas eliminating garlic did not influence the consumer acceptability despite of its significant impact on sensory attributes.



Practical Application:  The food industry is increasingly interested in ethnic foods that satisfy sophisticated appetite of today's consumers. Korean cuisine is recently gaining popularity and perceived as “adventurous and spicy,” appealing to researchers and marketers in the food industry worldwide. However, it is not easy to develop a new product based on ethnic cuisine because nonsensory factors, such as food neophobia and openness to new culture, can evoke adverse responses from the consumers. A systematic sensory approach can guide the product development by identifying both sensory and nonsensory factors affecting consumer acceptability. This study investigated sensory attributes of Bulgogi (Korean traditional barbecued beef), one of the most famous Korean foods, and compared consumer acceptability between Korea and the United States. The outcomes of this study, such as flavor profiles, consumer responses, evaluation procedure, and approaches taken for cross-cultural comparison, will provide the food industries with valuable information that will help to develop effective strategies for commercializing ethnic foods including recipe development for Bulgogi marinades.

Sensory Characteristics and Cross‐Cultural Consumer Acceptability of Bulgogi (Korean Traditional Barbecued Beef)

Bulgogi (Korean-traditional barbequed beef) is one of the most popular Korean traditional foods. China, the world’s most populous country, is a huge market that has the biggest market potential in the world. The purpose of the study was to understand the preference of Chinese consumers for bulgogi products in comparison to that of Korean consumers. Sensory characteristics of bulgogi samples that differed in levels of main marinating ingredients were examined using descriptive analysis and results were connected to hedonic information collected from Chinese (n=72) and Korean (n=76) participants. Bulgogi samples were prepared in ready-to-heat form. Chinese consumers’ overall acceptability was negatively affected by sweet taste, and green onion, black pepper, cooked onion, and sesame flavors. Chinese consumers tended to report that tested bulgogi samples were ‘too sweet’, while Korean consumers thought that sweetness levels were ‘just-right’. The results implied the influence of cultural expectation playing a role in consumer acceptability.

Sensory characteristics and cross-cultural acceptability of Chinese and Korean consumers for ready-to-heat (RTH) type bulgogi (Korean traditional barbecued beef)

This study was conducted to examine the effect of globalization of Korean food according to well-being value perceptionand the foreign visitor Korean food experience. An analysis of variance and a linear regression analysis were conducted toanalyze the hypotheses. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) The most important quality when eating Korean foodwas “taste” (37.3%). (2) The most important well-being value recognition items for Korean food were “kimchi” and“bulgogi”. “Bibimbap is well-being food” (3.82 points) and “Korean food is healthy because it consists mainly of cereals andvegetables” (3.56 points). (3) The subjects highly recognized the “improvement in service quality of Korean restaurants”(3.59 points) with regard to the importance of a globalization strategy for Korean food. (4) High-intake Korean foods were“bibimbap”, “baechookimchi”, “galbigui”, “pajeon”, and “bulgogi”, in that order. In contrast, the intake frequency for“songpeon”, “sikhei”, and “guksu” was very low. (5) The subjects thought that the globalization possibility for Korean foodwas high, as foreigners ingested a lot of baechookimchi. (6) The most effective well-being value recognition item forglobalizing Korean food was “Korean food is nutritious and good for the health” followed by “I have much interest in Koreanwell-being food”. and “Korean food is a well-being food because it contains many fermented and seasonal items”, in thatorder. (7) The most effective food for globalizing Korean food with a high-intake frequency was “baechookimchi', followedby “galbigui”, “guksu”, and “bibimbap”.Key Words: Korean food, well-being value, experience, globalization, foreigner

http://www.koreascience.or.kr:80/article/JAKO201006652483255.pdf

The Effects of Korean Food Globalization on Foreigners’ Perception of Wellbeing Value and Experience with Korean Food

Because the Korean rice cake, Seolgitteok, is mainly prepared with rice flour containing no gluten-protein associated with celiac disease, it can be considered for inclusion in a gluten-free diet. However, Western consumers may be unlikely to enjoy the plain flavor and chewy texture of Seolgitteok. This study aimed to determine both sensory and nonsensory factors that might affect U.S. consumers' acceptability of Seolgitteok. A total of 119 U.S. consumers rated 5 Seolgitteok samples, differentiated by descriptive sensory analysis, with respect to hedonic impression and just-about-right aspects of sensory attributes. Nonsensory factors such as demographic profile, innovativeness, social representation, sensation-seeking, and personality traits were also assessed. Addition levels of brown rice flour (0% to 100%) and sugar (5% to 20%) not only enriched flavor, but also lessened chewiness of Seolgitteok, thereby increasing an overall hedonic impression. Moreover, consumer acceptability of Seolgitteok varied with respect to nonsensory factors. Seolgitteok was more appreciated by males, sensation seekers, and individuals constrained by social desirability than by other groups. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that U.S. consumers' acceptability of Seolgitteok varies not only by sensory attributes such as rice flavor, sweetness, and chewiness, but also by nonsensory factors such as gender, sensation-seeking characteristics, and personality traits.

Variations in U.S. Consumers' Acceptability of Korean Rice Cake, Seolgitteok, with respect to Sensory Attributes and Nonsensory Factors

To establish a globalization strategy for Korean food, it is important to ascertain foreign consumer's taste preferences and to evaluate their sensory perceptions of Korean food. In concert with previous studies, the most preferred food were Bulgogi and Galbi. However, respondents showed somewhat different preferences for other foods. Chinese and other Asian participants preferred Galbitang and Samgyetang, while Japanese participants preferred Pajeon, Galbitang and Japchae, and Western participants preferred Galbitang, Mandu and Bibimbap. The most preferred condiment was hot pepper paste (the representative condiment of Korea) and the least preferred one was ginger. Hot pepper paste was preferred most by Japanese participants, while Chinese participants tended not to prefer ginger and other Asian participants excepting those from China and Japan disliked vinegar most. Foreign consumers tended to consider Korean food as sweet, salty and very hot. Chinese participants considered Korean food to be 'plain' and 'light and washy' in taste, while Japanese participants considered Korean food to be 'greasy' and 'thick and sticky'. Chinese participants considered typical servings to be inadequate, while Japanese participants considered the servings as excessive.

http://www.koreascience.or.kr:80/article/JAKO201014064135356.pdf

Kyung-Ja Kim

Papers

Preference and Perception of Korean Foods of Foreign Consumers by Nationality