KOREASCHOLAR

This study sought to determine family restaurant patrons' attitudes toward nutrition and healthy menus. A written questionnaire was handed out to 300 dine-in customers at the three different sites of T brand family restaurant. A total of 265 questionnaires were usable for data analysis, resulting in 88% response rate. Two attitude statements eliciting the strongest agreement were that 'Diet and chronic diseases risk are closely connected each other(4.44)' and 'Koreans are more nutrition & health conscious than they were in the past(4.41)'. The attitude statement-that nutrition is important when I eat out- received the lowest scores(2.92), which indicated that nutrition was not yet considered the most important factor when dining out. 23% of the respondents were interested in healthful foods, while 30% said they were unconcerned. Nutrition conscious group showed significantly (p<.000) higher attitude scores for most of statements than unconcerned group. Significant differences were found in age groups(p<.05, p<.01, p<.001), income levels(p<.05), educational levels(p<.05), health status groups(p<.05), and weight control interest groups(p<.05). Older respondents, respondents with higher income and educational levels were more interested in nutrition and healthy menus. Respondents who reported good health status and showed higher interest in weight control were more interested in nutrition and healthy menus. These findings indicate that restaurant firms should respond to consumers' increased interest in nutrition and healthy menus by offering healthful menus and increasing nutrition marketing activities. This may positively result in increasing customer counts and revenue as well as customer satisfaction level and brand image of restaurant firms. Moreover, restaurant firms are strongly encouraged to play an active role in promoting public's nutritional and health status because increasing consumption of meals away from home will seriously affect good health of our consumers.

• 김태희 | Kim, Tae-Hee