Miyoung Jeon, Rando Kim

(Department of Consumer Studies, Seoul National University, South Korea)

 

 

Abstract: Implications for strategic marketing to globalize Korean food are presented based on the data of Chinese consumers. The study identifies Chinese consumers’ preferences for Korean food through market segmentation based on food lifestyle. To do so, primary food shoppers in the age groups of 20s to 50s residing in five big cities of China — Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai — were surveyed and valid data of 2,045 respondents were used in the analysis. As a result of demonstrative analysis, Chinese consumers are segmented into “food safety-oriented”, “convenience-oriented”, “low interest in food” and “high interest in food” groups. The study indicates that the “high interest in food” and “convenience-oriented” groups appeared to be most favorable to Korean food, while the “food safety-oriented” and “low interest in food” groups were the least interested. These results suggest that different marketing strategies will be needed for each of these sub-categorized groups for the entry of Korean food products and service into the Chinese food service industry.

 

Key words: China; Korean food; food lifestyle; food consumption

 

JEL codes: M300