The purpose of this study is to draw the purchase attributes of the customers about processed food, so as to provide basic data needed for the development of processed food meeting the desires of the consumers and the establishment of customized marke...
The purpose of this study is to draw the purchase attributes of the customers about processed food, so as to provide basic data needed for the development of processed food meeting the desires of the consumers and the establishment of customized marketing strategies for specific consumer groups pursuing the same values, and to further contribute to the enhancement of the satisfaction of the consumers for the processed food.
For this, in order to draw purchase attributes of the subject consumers about processed food per the food type, we conducted a factor analysis, drawing them as five factors; for the classification based on these factors, we conducted a group analysis, and got three groups as a result; we named the group 1 ‘the type of safety pursuit’, the group 2 ‘the type of brand pursuit’, and the group 3 ‘the type of convenience pursuit’; and we conducted a survey on the actual condition of the processed food consumption, the extent of the consideration on the choice attributes in purchasing, the importance and satisfaction on the markings on the processed food, and the demand of the consumers for the development of processed food, with gender, age, education and the monthly income of the family, out of the groups drawn and the general characteristics, being independent variables.
On the extent of the purchasing, in the category of the actual condition of the processed food consumption, it was found that the younger the consumers are, the more instant food they buy, while they generally buy instant food the oftener, the lower their income levels are.
On the importance of the improvement of the family convenience food, the consumers attending, or graduated from, a graduate school were found to regard the development of small-packaged products of HMR the most important, showing meaningful differences per education. On the perception of the consumers on the needs of fresh, cut and processed vegetables and fruits, they felt the need for the improvement of the technologies for the maintenance and preservation of freshness the most.
According to the IPA(Importance-Performance Analysis) matrix result on the markings on processed food, the items, such as ‘the trust in the markings’ and ‘easily understandable markings on the food additives’, are included in the fourth quadrant, meaning their performances are relatively low, compared with their importance. This indicates that we particularly need to make efforts to enhance the reliability of the markings on processed food and to improve the markings on the food additives, so that they may be easily understandable.
On the important considerations in processed food development, in the category of the demand measures for the processed food development, females were found to regard the health and the product (quality) important, while males the taste (flavor), showing difference between them.
For the main considerations in the processed food development in consideration of the health, females’ responses were in favor of all the items being included, compared with those of the males. The consumers 50 years of age or older were found to perceive the need for the use of natural seasoning the most, while they across the board felt the necessity of the use of natural seasoning, the development of balanced nourishing food and the limitation of the use of food additives the more, the higher their income levels were.
The result of Friedman test to see if there is any difference in the perception on the necessary things in improving or developing the taste (flavor) of processed food was found to be higher in the necessity of the used of natural seasoning for the improvement of taste, the development of menu to meet the tastes of modern people, the development of diverse sauces for diverse tastes, and the development of traditional food, in that order.
The most responses are that the most necessary and important thing in the promotion and sales of processed food is to sell it in prices reasonable to the consumers.
The verification result of the difference between the importance and the performance of the considerations for the quality improvement of processed food showed that performances of the items, such as ‘the least use of food additives’, ‘consideration of nutritional contents’ and ‘use of fresh and safe material’, are relatively low, compared with their importance, indicating that we particularly need to use the least food additives, use fresh and safe material, and improve quality in consideration of the nutritional contents.
It is, therefore, thought to be necessary to develop products meeting the diverse classes of the consumers and improve and develop differentiated processed food, in consideration of the purchase attributes of the consumers.