The purpose of this study was to examine consumers' propensity to consume in the restaurant industry and to determine some of the right directions for the marketing efforts of that industry, as the altering life styles of different generations have br...
The purpose of this study was to examine consumers' propensity to consume in the restaurant industry and to determine some of the right directions for the marketing efforts of that industry, as the altering life styles of different generations have brought a rapid change to that industry.
Literature review and experimental research were both conducted. After literature of life style and eating-out behaviors was systematically reviewed, an experimental research was conducted after questionnaires were prepared to assess the life styles of restaurant consumers. The subjects in this study were 360 consumers who were randomly selected from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi province. They included company employees, teachers and students.
After a survey was conducted from mid-June to early July, 2006, the answer sheets from 348 participants were analyzed. For data analysis, SPSS/PC 12.0 program was used to find out about their general characteristics, and frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, ANOVA and t-test were utilized to verify the hypotheses formulated in the study.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
In terms of behavioral category, the life styles of the consumers investigated were classified into nine: planned consumers, seekers of name brands and fashion, sociable leaders, self-fulfillment-oriented style, health-conscious style, future-oriented style, face-conscious style, seekers of western-style taste and pursuers of conservative values. As for connections between life style and marital status, the unmarried consumers were more future-oriented and sought after more conservative values than the married ones, and the gap between the two was significant. By occupation, the technical workers whose income was smaller consumed in a more planned manner, and the professionals whose income was larger valued name brands and fashion. Those who lived in their own houses were more of sociable-leader style, and those who dwelled in rental houses or who didn't own a house were more face-conscious. By monthly income, the consumers in the middle- and low-income brackets were more health-conscious than the larger income earners, and the latter attached more importance to conservative values and self-fulfillment.
As for eating-out behaviors, a larger number of the consumers ate out five to 10 times a month, and spent 20 to 30 thousand won on that.
Concerning the purpose of eating out, most of them wanted to have a good time with their families or to have delicious food with friends or colleagues. They used Korean restaurant a lot mainly over the weekend.
Regarding selective attributes of eating out, the single consumers took taste more seriously. Those unmarried consumers took more consideration on nutrition and health, and laid more stress on the name value and reputation of restaurants as well.
By age, those who were in their 20s and 40s made taste a priority, and those in their 30s valued the amount of food. The convenience of parking lot and transportation were considered more important by those in their 20s.
The technical workers who had to move a lot thought much of the amount of food and preferred diverse menus.
The consumers from the middle- and high-income classes viewed convenient parking facilities and transportation as more important, and those who worked for five days a week laid more stress on those factors as well. The younger consumers were more concerned about the atmosphere or interior of restaurants.
Thus, the younger generation seemed to give more weight to leisure facilities, diversity of menus and gorgeous interior, and the larger income earners apparently wanted to show off themselves.
The smaller income obtainers attached more importance to planned consumption and the amount of food.
In addition, many didn't put confidence in mass media and the Internet as a vehicle to acquire information. Instead, they prized evaluation by their close acquaintances, families or relatives, which seemed to prove the effect of the word of mouth in the restaurant industry.
Finally, there are some suggestions about the restaurant market:
First, new marketing strategies should be formulated to lure more consumers in light of their changing life styles and relevant characteristics.
Second, their preference and purpose of eating out should accurately be grasped to keep up with the changing restaurant industry.
Third, more reliable and informative online information on restaurants should be provided, instead of just relying on word-of-mouth marketing, as our country is counted among the most wired nations in the 21st century's world.