Published online Dec 31, 2014.
https://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2014.47.6.463
Customer perception and expert assessment in restaurant food environment by region: Focused on restaurants in Suwon, Hwaseong city
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to assess the food environment, particularly focusing on restaurants in three areas (Suwon city, Hwaseong Byeongieom-dong, and Bibong-myun).
Methods
A total of 662 persons were surveyed on customers' perceptions of the food environment in restaurants. A structured questionnaire composed of 30 questions on 7 factors, sanitation (4 items), displaying information (5), food quality (12), information on nutritional and healthy food choice (6), restaurant's accessibility (1), availability (1), and affordability (1) was used. In addition, an expert assessment of restaurant sanitation, and information on nutritional·healthy food choice was conducted through visiting 126 restaurants.
Results
Scores (range of score : 1~7) for each factors assessing the restaurant food environment were 5.06 for sanitation factors, 5.05 for displaying information factors, 5.13 for taste·appearance factors, and 4.35 for healthy menu factors. Informations on nutritional·healthy food choice showed a low rate: only 16.24% of the subjects answered that there is a message encouraging choice of healthy foods and 27.4% answered that menus contain nutritional information. Significant differences in food environment were observed by region (city, town, rural). The restaurants food environment in the rural area turned out to be poorer than that of the other two areas. In comparison of customer perception and expert assessment, significant differences were observed for 'Employee appearances and uniforms are clean and tidy' (p < .05), and 'There is a message encouraging the choice of healthy foods' (p < .05).
Conclusion
This study provided evidence for differences of restaurant food environment by regions. In the rural area, there is a problem in restaurant's accessibility, availability, and affordability because of a lack of variety in menu items and restaurants. This results suggest that there is a need for more healthy food restaurants in the rural area.
Table 1
Structure of the questionnaire
Table 2
Reliability and validity analysis
Table 3
General characteristics of the subjects
Table 4
General characteristics of the subjects by regions
Table 5
Customer perception of restaurant food environment by regions
Table 6
Customer perception of information on nutritional and healthy food choice by regions
Table 7
Comparison of customer perception of restaurant's Accessibility, Availability, and Affordability by regions
Table 8
Comparison of customer perception and expert assessment about sanitation
Table 9
Comparison of customer perception and expert assessment about nutritional·healthy food choice information
This work was carried out with the support of "Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ008995)" Rural Development Administration.
References
-
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Korea Health Statistics 2012: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V-3). Cheongwon: Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2013.
-
-
Korea Rural Economic Institute. A base study on developing the consumer behavior survey for food. Seoul: Korea Rural Economic Institute; 2013.
-
-
Suh Y, Jang J, Kim H, Chung YJ. Comparison of nutritional status of the Daejeon metropolitan citizens by frequency of eating out. Korean J Nutr 2010;43(2):171–180.
-
-
Lee D, Lee JC, Kim MH. Effect of menu calorie labels on menu sales and consumer's recognition at a Korean restaurant in a hotel. Korean J Community Nutr 2013;18(5):505–514.
-
-
D'Angelo H, Suratkar S, Song HJ, Stauffer E, Gittelsohn J. Access to food source and food source use are associated with healthy and unhealthy food-purchasing behaviours among low-income African-American adults in Baltimore city. Public Health Nutr 2011;14(9):1632–1639.
-
-
Minaker LM, Raine KD, Cash SB. Measuring the food service environment: development and implementation of assessment tools. Can J Public Health 2009;100(6):421–425.
-
-
Clark RA, Coffee N. Why measuring accessibility is important for public health: a review from the Cardiac ARIA project. Public Health Bull S Aust 2011;8(1):3–8.
-
-
Frank L, Glanz K, McCarron M, Sallis J, Saelens B, Chapman J. The spatial distribution of food outlet type and quality around schools in differing built environment and demographic contexts. Berkeley Plan J 2006;19:79–95.
-
-
Kim H, Yang I, Shin S. Effect of the service providers' perceived service quality on customer loyalty in restaurants. Korean J Community Nutr 2000;5(2):236–242.
-
-
Byun GI, Cho WJ. Family restaurant customers' quality evaluation and satisfaction depending on the physical environmental variables. Korean J Food Cult 2006;21(1):51–56.
-
-
Lee GR, Yoo YJ, Park GS. A study of the effect of environmental characteristics on overall service quality, and repurchase intentions in Korean foodservice firms. Korean J Food Cult 2005;20(6):661–667.
-
-
Jung MB, Kim SH, Kim YI. Impacts of hotel buffer restaurant's physical environment on both service quality and customer satisfaction as well as customer's loyalty - focused on the super deluxe hotels in Seoul. Korean J Tourism Res 2010;25(3):101–120.
-
-
Koo S, Park K. Dietary behaviors and lifestyle characteristics related to frequent eating out among Korean adults. J Korean Soc Food Sci Nutr 2013;42(5):705–712.
-
-
Kim Y, Seo S, Kwon O, Cho MS. Comparisons of dietary behavior, food intake, and satisfaction with food-related life between the elderly living in urban and rural areas. Korean J Nutr 2012;45(3):252–263.
-
-
Statistics Korea. Korean statistical information service [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea; 2013 [cited 2013 Jan 15].Available from: http://kosis.kr/statisticsList/statisticsList_
01List.jsp?vwcd=MT_ ZTITLE&parentId=K.
-
-
Monthly Restaurant. The customer behavior of eating out 2012 [Internet]. Seoul: Korea Food Service Information Co. Ltd.; 2012 [cited 2014 Jan 15].Available from: http://month.foodbank.co.kr/etc/search_
view.php?secIndex=2863&page=15§ion=&serial=&keyfield=all&key=??.
-
-
Agency Small Business. Commercial information systems [Internet]. Daejeon: Small Enterprise and Market Service; 2008 [cited 2013 Jan 15].Available from: http://sg.kmdc.or.kr/index.sg#/analy/result/D_
205321_ 0/.
-
-
Hong K, Joung H. Restaurateur's willingness to participate in the healthy restaurant program in Seoul. Korean J Nutr 2009;42(3):268–277.
-
-
Hwang JJ. How does nutritional information about fast food menu items influence consumer choice behavior according to their health consciousness and nutritional knowledge? Korean J Hosp Adm 2012;21(2):93–112.
-
-
Yoo YJ, Lee JK, Choi YS. The evaluation of service employees' sanitary management in hotels. Korean J Food Cookery Sci 2006;23(5):565–572.
-
-
Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE. In: Multivariate data analysis. 7th edition. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall; 2009.
-
-
Kye SH, Moon HK, Chung HR, Hwang SH, Kim WS, Moon HY. A study for the improvement of sanitary condition in Korean stylerestaurant in Seoul city area (I) -evaluation on sanitation of working environment and facilities for the kitchen-. Korean J Food Cult 1995;9(5):457–465.
-
-
Kye SH, Moon HK, Chung HR, Hwang SH, Kim WS. A study for the improvement of sanitary condition in Korean style-restaurant in Seoul city area (II) -evaluation on sanitary management of cooking equipment and personal hygiene-. Korean J Food Cult 1995;10(1):1–10.
-
-
Kim SJ, Yi NY, Chang HJ, Kwak TK. Current status of sanitation management performance in Korean-food restaurants and development of the sanitary training posters based on their risk factors. Korean J Food Cult 2008;23(5):582–594.
-
-
Yu JL, Park DY. Korean family's perception of the importance of the quality of restaurants according to family life cycle. Korean J Community Nutr 2002;7(1):130–140.
-
-
Sohn CY. Perception of nutrition labeling on restaurant menus among adults in Suwon. Korean J Community Nutr 2009;14(4):420–429.
-
-
Chung HJ, Cheon HS, Kwon KI, Kim JY, Yoo KS, Lee JH, Kim JW, Park HK, Kim SH, Hong SM. The recognition and requirement of nutrition labeling in fast-food restaurants. Korean J Nutr 2009;42(1):68–77.
-
-
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Menu nutritional information manual [Internet]. Cheongju: Ministry of Food and Drug Safety; 2013 [cited 2014 Jan 20].Available from: http://www.mfds.go.kr/nutrition.
-
-
Hong K, Joung H. Developing a questionnaire to evaluate the healthy restaurant program. Korean J Nutr 2011;44(6):562–576.
-
-
United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Access to affordable and nutritious food-measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences: report to congress [Internet]. Washington, D.C.: Economic Research Service; 2009 [cited 2014 Apr 10].
-