The Korean rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), has been traditionally used for the treatment of liverrelated diseases. Recently A. dichotoma was registered as a food ingredient in Korea. Given the increasing interest in this beetle, studies on the development of safe and nutritious feed sources for its commercial production are needed. In this study, we compared the effects of by-products on the growth of third instar larvae of A. dichotoma. An abundance of food by-products have been found to serve as an alternative energy source in animal feeds with the reduced cost. We fed third instar A. dichotoma larvae feeds consisting of fermented sawdust with nine different combinations of citrus peel, soybean curd cake, soybean oil meal, and brewers’ dried grain, and measured their effects on growth until the larvae pupated. The highest survival rate was in feed supplemented with 10% of brewers’ dried grain (66.7%). Especially, larvae fed on 10% of brewers’ dried grain were 26% heavier than the control (with no supplement). For the group of 10% brewers’ dried grain, the larval period of third instar was shortened by almost 28 days compared to the control group. Of the experimental and control groups, only the group of 10% brewers’ dried grain showed more than 90% of pupation rate. Therefore, brewers’ dried grain may be sufficiently useful as a source of feed for A. dichotoma.

2017년에 이어 2018년에도 경기도, 강원도 북부 8개 군과 한반도 북방 유사지역인 연길과 단동에서 벼, 옥수수, 콩, 감자, 맥류포장에 발생하는 주요해충을 조사하였다. 국내 북부지역의 벼에서는 벼물바구미 등 4종, 옥수수에서는 조명나방과 멸강나방, 콩에서는 진딧물 등 7종(콩나방은 연천의 1개 포장만), 감자와 밀에서는 진딧물이 발생하였다. 북방 유사지역에서의 해충 발생은 국내 북부지역과 유사하였으며 벼에서는 이화명나방, 콩에서는 잎벌레류와 들명나방, 감자에서는 가류이류와 큰28점박이무당벌레, 밀에서는 진딧물과 멸강나방이 발생하였다. 단동에서 이화명나방, 조명나방, 담배거세미나방, 톱다리개미허리노린재 등이 페로몬 트랩에 의한 유살수가 많았고, 콩나방은 적은 량이 유살되었다. 유효적산온도를 이용하여 벼멸구, 흰등멸구의 발생세대를 추정한 결과, 벼멸구는 7월 상순 비래 후 2세대 성충이 서해안에서는 9월 중순, 동해안에서는 9월말에 나오는 것으로 계산되었으나 그 외 북부지역에서는 발생하지 못하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 벼멸구 비래량이 평년 수준일 경우 고사피해는 나오지 않을 것으로 추정되었다. 흰등멸구는 서해안과 동해안에서는 3세대, 내륙에서는 1-2세대를 경과하는 것으로 추정되었다.

최근 전세계적으로 건강기능식품에 대한 사람들의 관심이 증가함에 따라 식용곤충에 대한 활발한 연구가 진행되고 있다. 국내에서도 식용곤충에 대한 활발한 연구가 진행되고 있으며, 그 중 흰점박이꽃무지는 동의보감에서 효능을 인정받아 식량자원으로써 연구되고 있다. 이에 근거하여 본 연구에서는 흰점박이꽃무지 성충의 먹이에 대한 선호도 조사와 사육키트 설계를 통해 생산성 증대를 꾀하고자 하였다. 흰점박이꽃무지 성충에 대한 먹이 선호도 조사는 단백질의 함량과 당도, 그리고 알부민의 함량을 달리하며 실험을 수행하였다. 단백질 함량의 실험의 경우 0 %, 1 %, 5 %, 10 %에 대한 연구를 진행하여 이 실험을 통해 단백질의 함량은 흰점박이 꽃무지의 먹이 선호도에 영향을 미치지 않는다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 당도의 경우 과일의 당도범위를 기준으로 하여 15 brix, 20 brix, 25 brix, 30 brix에 대한 실험을 진행한 결과, 20 brix가 흰점박이꽃무지가 가장 선호한다는 결론을 얻을 수 있었다. 또한 계란 흰자의 주요 단백질 성분인 알부민의 경우 0 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %에 대한 실험을 진행하여 알부민의 함량이 적을수록 선호도가 더 높다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 먹이에 대한 선호도조사를 사육키트 설계에 반영하여 흰점박이꽃무지 성충의 사육키트는 실제 사육장의 인터뷰를 참고하여 온도 28 °C와 습도 40%로 자동으로 조절되도록 설계하였다. 사육키트의 온도는 사육키트의 바닥에 부착된 전기 매트를 통해 조절하고 습도는 사육키트의 측면에 위치한 팬을 통해 조절된다. 또한 먹이를 간편하게 제공할 수 있도록 먹이배급장치를 별도로 설계하였다. 본 연구의 의의는 흰점박이꽃무지의 성충에 대한 먹이 선호도 조사와 사육키트의 설계를 통해 미래 식량자원으로 이용될 수 있는 흰점박이꽃무지의 생산성에 대한 연구를 제안한다는 점에 있다.

In this study, the microstructure was confirmed by examining the exoskeleton of Cybister japonicus and Hydrophilus acuminatus, which are representative aquatic insects. And the exoskeleton was observed through the microscope. The digestive organs and respiratory organs were observed through anatomy, respectively. Hydrophilus acuminatus had longer midgut and hindgut than Cybister japonicus, and Cybister japonicus had larger crop than Hydrophilus acuminatus. The structural difference of the hind legs revealed that there was a difference between their swimming behavior. Cybister japonicus swing both legs at the same time, while Hydrophilus acuminatus swings alternately on both hind legs. This study is expected to be the basis of ecological studies and researches of aquatic insects by studying the basic structure of aquatic insects.

식품 중 곰팡이 이물에 대한 연구를 위하여 식품 제조 및 유통/보관현장에서의 곰팡이 오염수준 및 주요 곰팡이류를 조사하였다. 측정은 식품유형별 총 9장소 (젓갈류, 식초류, 쌀류, 밀가루류, 냉동만두류, 면류, 과자류, 육가공류, 김치류)와 유통/보관현장 총 8장소(물류 창고)에서 진행하였고, 각 생산라인에서 부유곰팡이, 표면 곰팡이 오염도를 조사하였다. 측정결과, 육가공류 생산현장에서 부유곰팡이 오염도가 가장 높게 측정되었으며, 김치류 생산현장에서의 부유곰팡이 오염도가 가장 낮게 측정되었다. 설비 및 벽면에서의 표면 곰팡이 오염도의 경우, 식품 제조 및 유통/보관 현장에 관계없이 거의 검출되지 않았다. 현장에서 검출된 주요곰팡이를 조사한 결과, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Cladosporium sp., 종이 우점종 곰팡이로 조사되었다.

식품 중 발견 이물은 광물성, 동물성, 식물성 이물로 대별된다. 식약처 이물 발생 신고 자료를 보면 곤충이물이 거의 모든 식품유형에서 가장 높은 빈도(40% 내외)를 차지한다. 식품 중 곤충 이물은 직접적인 인체 위해보다는 소비자에게 혐오감 유발, 식품업체 비위생적 취급 우려와 같이 간접적으로 식품 안전에 대한 소비자 불안감을 가중시키고 언론과 소비자단체를 통해 지속적인 이슈가 되어 식품 기업의 매출감소, 위생, 안전성 측면의 신뢰도를 감소시키고 민원처리, 이물조사 업무가중 등 행정력낭비를 유발하고 있다. 식품 중 발생하는 곤충이물은 다양한 원인으로 유발되어 확실하게 규명되는 제조 중발생(6.5%), 소비, 유통 단계 유입(39.4%) 이외에 대부분이 판정불가(53.4%)로 처리되고 있다. 따라서 앞으로 식품산업에서 는 생산단계와 유통, 보관 단계에 실용화될 수 있는 효과적인 곤충 이물 저감화기술을 개발/적용하여 이물발생 리스크를 관리하고 국민의 식품안전에 대한 체감도를 높이는 것이 필요하다.

식품에서 발견되는 곤충이물은 제조단계와 유통, 소비단계 유입으로 대별된다. 식약처 발표에 따르면 2016년 5332건 이물신고 건수의 34.3% 인 1830건이 곤충이물이며 이중 조사, 판정 불가 56%, 제조단계 6.5%를 제외한 49.4%가 소비, 유통 단계에서 유입된 것으로 조사되었다. 유통, 소비단계에서의 곤충 이물 유입은 전 지구적인 기후변화와 소비자 트랜드 변화, 유통, 물류 시스템 변화 등의 요인과 결합되어 지속적으로 증가되고 있으나 제품 생산 후 제품이 물류센터, 특약점, 도, 소매점과 같은 다양한 환경에 노출되고 소비자 사용 시 다양한 원인으로 인해 발생되기 때문에 근본적인 원인 제거는 불가능 하다. 따라서 현재로써는 방충포장을 통해 곤충오염 리스크를 줄이는 방안이 가장 효과적일 것으로 판단된다. 본 연구에서는 유통 중 제품으로 유입되는 곤충을 제어하기 위해 생산비 증가와 식품 안전에 미치는 영향을 고려하여 천연식물 추출물을 활용한 방충박스포장소재를 개발하고 이를 약 770만 제품박스에 적용한 결과 소비자 해충클레임이 65%정도 감소하는 것으로 조사되었다.

Genetically modified food gave rise to several controversies since it came into being. The clash of international GMF legislation is rooted in the divergence of the EU and the US legislation, which leads to the divergence of the WTO and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and indirectly influences the legislative choice of developing countries. Like other developing countries, China also faces lots of challenges including lag in genetically modified organism technology, disadvantage caused by invisible private standard, technical control of GMO companies in developed countries and low level of involvement of the public. In recent years, China adopts its own policy on GMO by developing GM technology cautiously. The legislative situation in China fall far behind domestic research and commercial production necessity. China has revised several existing legislations. Although there is far from perfect, it makes great progress. In the future, China is expected to be more active, positive and open towards GMO.

This study examined how the consumers’ perception of GM food affects their purchasing behavior. In addition, this study investigated how the amount of knowledge a consumer has regarding GM food affects their perception of this type of food. The quantitative research method was used to collect data. The data from a self-administered survey, which was conducted in South Korea, was analyzed using descriptive analysis, ANOVA, factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis methods. The results of the survey indicate that most respondents may have unknowingly purchased GM food. Further, the respondents reported that they likely had known about or had heard of GM food. In addition, the survey indicated that the amount of knowledge possessed by the respondents regarding GM food greatly affected their perceptions of this type of food. These findings will contribute to the current GM food market by providing the food market with additional information relating to the consumers’ perceptions of GM food.

This study will introduce the foods recorded in Gyemiseo and disclose the substantive characteristics of traditional Korean food in the early stage of the Joseon Dynasty. Gyemiseo is a cook book manuscript written in the Chinese language that was rebound into book format at the end of the Joseon Dynasty in 1911, some 358 years after it was originally written in the 163rd year of the Joseon Dynasty (1554) While the majority of cook books begin with recipes for various types of wines and liquor followed by those for fermented sauces, fermented vegetables (such as kimchi), vinegars and storage methods, etc., Gyemiseo begins with recipes for fermented sauces, followed by recipes for various kimchis, how to make vinegars, main meals, side dishes, rice cakes and confectionaries, with recipes for wines and liquor introduced last. Therefore, it can be assumed that the methods of brewing wines and liquors were additionally recorded for bookbinding. There are a total of 128 recipes recorded in Gyemiseo, including 13 for fermented sauces, 14 for kimchi, 11 for the main meal, 26 for side dishes, three storage methods, four for rice cakes and confectionaries, and 44 for wines and liquors. It is believed that contents of Gyemiseo will provide a foundation on which to pursue researches on the process of transition of cooking methods of traditional cuisines of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty.

본 연구는 건강기능식품의 복합제품 개발 및 일반식품 형태의 제품개발 확대에 따라 옥타코사놀의 특이성 및 감도 등이 개선된 분석법을 마련하여 향후 공정시험법에 활용할 수 있도록 하였다. 건강기능식품 중 옥타코사놀의 함량분석을 위해 GC-MS를 이용한 분석법을 확립하고 유통중인 제품을 대상으로 적용성을 검토하였다. 분석법 검증은 특이성, 직선성, 검출한계 및 정량한계, 정확성, 정밀성에 대해 수행하였다. 12.5~200.0 μg/L의 농도범위에서 r2 = 0.999 이상의 우수한 직선성을 확인할 수 있었으며, 검 출한계와 정량한계는 각각 4.5, 13.8 μg/L이었다. 공시료에 표준물질 첨가법을 이용하여 정확성을 검토하였으며 50, 100, 150 μg/L의 농도에서 각각 94, 93, 109%의 회수율을 확인할 수 있었다. 정밀성 결과에서는 시료 채취량을 80 mg, 120 mg, 220 mg으로 각기 달라하여 측정한 결과 상대표준편차는 1.8~2.4%로 확인되었다. 실험실간재현성은 1.0~2.3%로 나타났다. 본 연구에서 확립된 분석법을 적용하여 유통제품 9건에 대해 적용성 검토를 실시한 결과 전체 시료에서 분석이 용이하였으며, 모두 표시기준에 적합함을 확인하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 확립된 GC-MS를 이용한 건강기능식품 중 옥타코사놀 분석법은 향후 공정시험법으로 활용할 수 있으며 국내 건강기능식품의 관리 기반을 강화하는데 기여할 것으로 사료된다.

가정에서 가족의 식생활을 책임지고 있는 주부들은 식품안전과 관련된 정보에 매우 민감하여 주부들에게 어떤 정보를 제공했을 때 안심하고 식품을 구매하는지를 알아보는 것은 매우 중요하다. 이 연구는 건강신념모형에서 건강행동을 촉진한다고 알려진 지각된 위협, 행동평가, 자기효능감 같은 요인들이 주부들의 실제 식품안전 인식과 행동에 얼마나 영향을 미치는지를 알아보기 위해 이루어졌 다. 본 연구는 191명의 가정주부를 대상으로 이루어졌으며, 건강신념모형의 주요변수인 지각된 이익과 지각된 장애, 자기효능감, 지각된 심각성과 지각된 개연성 그리고 식품안전 행동에 영향을 미친다고 알려진 건강지향성과 지식수준을 측정하기 위한 설문지가 사용되었다. 일반적 특성을 분석한 결과를 보면 교육수준이 높을수록 그리고 대도시에 살수록 식품안전에 대한 위협을 더 많이 느끼고 안전한 식품을 구매하려는 경향이 더 높았다. 또한 연구 변수간의 상관관계를 분석한 결과를 보면 안전한 식품에 대한 지식이 더 많을수록 그리고 건강에 대한 관심이 높을수록 상대적 이익이나 자기효능감도 높으며 그에 따라 안전한 식품을 구매하려는 경향이 높은 경향을 보였다. 한편 건강신념모형에 근거한 식품안전 행동에 대한 개념모형을 구조방정식분석으로 검증한 결과 적합한 모형 적합도를 보였으며 구매행동에 지각된 위협보다 지식수준과 상대적 이익이 큰 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과를 볼 때 주부가 안전한 식품을 구매하도록 돕기 위해서는 방송이나 신문 같은 공적 경로를 적극 활용하는 식품안전에 대한 정보의 지속적인 제공으로 지식수준을 높여주고 위해성 정보보다는 예방이 가능한 정보 제공으로 안전한 식품을 구매하려는 노력이 실제로 가정의 건강을 지키는데 도움이 된다는 점을 홍보해야 한다는 것을 시사한다.

Although wellness may represent a status symbol in some contexts, recent studies have pointed that healthy food remains largely associated with a negative social image (Stead, McDermott, MacKintosh, & Adamson, 2011). This negative perception may very well represent a hindering factor to the adoption of healthy food by a large number of people and contribute to the health and economic problems associated with high BMI. This paper investigates whether the social status of healthy food can be improved. Manipulating the number of followers on a social media account, we study how this social validation cue can stimulate consumers to eat more healthily. Furthermore, we explore the mechanism that may lead to positive consumer responses towards the message and the healthy food. A between-subject experiment on 290 individuals aged between 17 and 65 shows that the process relies on social influence driven by the influence of presumed influence (i.e., an individual’s perception that a message strongly influences others and consequently impacts his/her own reactions to the message (Noguti, & Russell, 2014)). Implications for the promotion of well-being behaviors are discussed.

Product labels are one way for advertisers to provide information to purchasers on product quality (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Label policies have been issued to promote information disclosure on food products in some developed countries. Recent years have also seen increasing attempts to promote healthy eating in emerging markets. In China, nutrition labels became mandatory under the nutrition labeling acts. The laws require nutrition information to be presented at the point of purchase as well as in establishments where food is prepared or consumed. Additionally, similar actions were taken by India (India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2011), Mercosur members and in South Africa (Brazilian Ministry of Health, 2012; Institute of Food Technologists [IFT], 2011). While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, some key gaps remain in the nutrition labeling literature. First, a great deal of marketing research has focused on consumer responses (e.g., Balasubramanian & Cole, 2002; Hieke & Taylor, 2012; Ippolito & Mathios, 1995; Parker & Lehmann, 2014; Shah, Bettman, Ubel, Keller, & Edell, 2014) and firm responses (e.g., Moorman 1998; Moorman, Du, & Mela, 2005; Moorman, Ferraro, & Huber, 2012) to nutrition labeling laws. Although stock market investors express greater interest in information about nutrition issues that can be integrated into financial analyses (Global Access to Nutrition Index [ATNI] Investor Statement, 2013), the issue of how standardized information requirements affect investors’ responses in financial markets has been understudied. As used here, standardized product-information disclosure refers to a requirement to present facts about firms’ offerings in a common format using uniform metrics (Moorman et al. 2012). Understanding the extent to which investors consider product information-disclosure polices when they make investment decisions is important because a company’s financial health is not only the ultimate measure for the success or failure of any strategic initiative (Luo & Bhattacharya, 2009), but also one of the most important measures of public policy effectiveness (Joshi & Hanssens, 2010; Srinivasan & Hanssens, 2009; Schwert, 1981). Moreover, urgent concerns have spilled over from the product market to the financial market (Chen, Ganesan, & Liu, 2009) due to the enormous economic costs and damage to firms’ reputations in product-harm crises (e. g., melamine contamination in several Chinese brands of infant milk powder) (Ngo, 2014). Another gap in the literature is how nutritional-labeling requirements affect emerging markets. In contrast to the situation in long-developed countries, emerging markets are subject to different pressures for food marketers and thus a distinctive environment surrounds the regulation of food product labeling. In China, food safety and quality is considered an urgent concern, and the issue has forced regulators and companies to take action (Yan, 2008). Unlike mature stock markets, the majority of investors in China are individuals (Chen, Li, & Shi, 2010). The Chinese markets are under-regulated and deficient in gathering and disseminating information to private or public organizations, and it is difficult for listed firms with insufficient records to form reputations (Singh et al., 2005). As a result, information asymmetry is accentuated and imperfect signals released from firms highly impact investor decisions. Thus, examining the effectiveness of labeling requirements in developing economies is important as is comparing these results to those found in more developed countries. Despite the importance of the issue in emerging markets, empirical work for investigating investor response to the public policy of nutrition labeling (Ghani, & Childs, 1999) or firms’ nutrition claim strategies (Cao & Yan, 2016) has been restricted in developed markets (e.g., the U.S.). Little is understood the changes in corporate financial performance because of regulations requiring product information disclosure in emerging markets. As a result of the pressures for consumer protection and regulation, it is increasingly important for policy makers to be able to understand the financial consequences of such regulation because of information disclosure policies (Moorman et al., 2005). Thus, an additional contribution of this study is to help better inform the policy debate in emerging markets. To fill these research gaps, we investigated the influence of the influx of standardized product information on the stock market. Specifically, we conducted an event study to examine the effect on firms’ stock values from the issuance of the food nutrition label acts (FNLAs) in China, a fast-growing emerging market. The acts require food manufacturers to provide standardized nutritional information on pre-packaged food labels. This study contributes to the marketing literature on the financial impact of regulation in emerging markets. In China, on the day the FNLA was issued, they were associated with positive abnormal stock returns of related firms. This result is contrary to the study by Ghani and Childs (1999) that reported that the NLEA passage showed a negative impact on firms’ stock prices. Second, the financial value from the issuance of regulations was strengthened by three marketing leverages—advertising, donations, and R&D. Finally, although Moorman et al. argued that the NLEA increased the number of small-share firms exiting the U.S. market (Moorman et al., 2005), we found that in the short term, large firms benefited less than small firms from product information disclosure in China’s stock market. These findings provide empirical evidence that regulatory controls create changes in shareholder wealth and provide an assessment of the financial market’s perceptions regarding the role of mandatory product- information disclosure in future corporate growth. In addition, evidence of the effects of regulatory changes on wealth is of significant value to policymakers and market participants as they evaluate the benefits and costs of information disclosure in emerging markets.

Over the past decade, the advances in the Internet of Things has allowed WiFi infrastructure to track the movement and location of smart devices. This innovative technology is sometimes referred to as wireless analytics or offline / in-store visitor analytics. Similar to an offline or instore version of website analytics, wireless analytics can infer instore shopping behavior from analyzing the dwell time, movement, and behavior of a smart device within a designated vicinity. The study was carried out at an activation area of food trucks at an Australian metropolitan university. Visitor analytics were gathered by using a wireless analytic modem that was configured to ping and pick up wireless signal emitted by smart devices within the radius of the food truck area. Challenging past research on pop-stores, our findings show that novelty of pop-up food trucks may not necessarily predict their success and consumers tend to prefer familiar food trucks at the Australian metropolitan university. In fact, the presence of novel food trucks may encourage consumers to walk-by without any interaction with the food trucks.

The culinary business in Indonesia has become attractive since it gives 41.40% contribution to total creative economy GDP in 2016 (BEKRAF-BPS, 2016). The high contribution of the culinary industry could not separate from the fact that Indonesia has plenty of local foods variety from a different area in Indonesia. Since 2016, on the scope of ASEAN Economy Community, the role of Indonesian millennial is essential. The total of ASEAN population is 625 million. 65 percent of them who was born in 1980 is around 375 million. Indonesia has approximately 84 million millennial which means 23% of the youth in ASEAN is Indonesia citizen. The current research aims to analyzed millennial behaviors and how they consumed local foods based on the online and offline appearance of the local food. Based on the survey to 121 millennial, this study found that online and offline appearance includes social media, sensory appeal, health and weight control, price, habit, and sociability and social image, have a significant influence to local food consumption among millennial. This study may provide a new perspective on how local food entrepreneurs should manage their online and offline appearance of local food to increase the product’s consumption.

Foods play important roles in Chinese gift giving behavior; they contain abundant symbolic and semiotics meanings. Typical food products are exchange during festivals, commercial intercourse, and other social intercourse occasion. The purpose of study is to investigate how the meanings and values of food gifts affect gift-giving behavior under Chinese cultural context. Qualitative in-depth interviews are applied, eighteen participants from food gift industry, academic field and consumers are invited in the study, and qualitative data analysis framework is designed based on Sheth’s consumption values theory. We find that food gifts cover function value, emotional value, social value, epistemic value and conditional value. Gift values are explained by givers and recipients during gift-giving process. Gift-giving occasion, gift-giving purpose, relationship between givers and recipients are influence the value of gift. Study provides some practical recommendation for food products design and marketing.

Food trucks are not a new idea but the significant growth in the variety of foods served and the number of trucks operating means this retail option is becoming more important. The growth of this segment can be explained by McNair’s (1958) wheel of retailing theory which indicates that growth in retailing happens when new types of retailers with low startup costs, low capital and low prices enter the market – exactly what is occurring with food trucks entering the mature food retailing market. There has been limited academic research regarding the food truck industry. To better understand this retail segment and the factors influencing it, we conducted in-depth discussions with nine food truck owner/operators in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. The discussions with the food truck owner/operators indicated three critical areas: marketing, growth strategy, and legal issues. Technology was found to be vital to this retail segment with social media being used to promote the business and many vendors mentioned that apps like Square (which enables credit card payments) help them get additional sales when customers lack cash. These apps also helped the owner/operators manage some of the legal/regulatory issues associated with operating within different municipalities. Our in-depth discussions with the nine food truck vendors provided insight into the food truck business and helped refine our understanding of critical concerns of this growing industry.

Introduction In recent times, mass customization strategy has been actively adapted even in the food service industry, which provides services wherein consumers select the main ingredients of the food they order according to their preference. In this study, we examine the effect of mass customization strategies perceived by consumers in the food service industry. We also includes the external and internal environmental factors stimuli surrounding the situation of purchasing customized food items to better predict how consumer’s perceived value of mass customization might be formed within the context of service industry. Evidence shows that consumers’ perceived value is high for mass customization in food consumption service compared to food service for a fixed menu. The findings further suggest that this effects of mass customization on consumer perception is moderated by social influence (group vs. individual) and food type (utilitarian vs. hedonic). Theoretical Development Recent research in the field of mass customization has demonstrated that the advantage of designing consumer’s own products is in increasing consumer's perceived benefits while engaging in the customization of tangible products. These studies have shown that the mass customization provides consumers with a utilitarian value due to the purchase of optimized products that meet their individual needs and various values that are embedded in the customization process, such as hedonic value, self-expressive value, and creative achievement (Merle, Chandon, Roux, & Alizon, 2010; Yoo & Park, 2016), and that this value recognition leads to positive attitudes and behavioral responses such as high willingness to pay (Franke, Keinz, & Steger, 2009; Schreier, 2006), purchase intent, and loyalty (Yoo & Park, 2016). However, whereas research on mass customization focusing on tangible products has been actively conducted, research in the field of intangible services, is still lacking in two respects. First, there has been very little discussion of the effectiveness of mass customization strategies in the food service industry. Specifically, based on the stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, which states that environmental stimuli (S) lead to the formation of a customer perception (O) that induces consumers’ behavioral responses (R) (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974), existing research focused on the relationship of customer’s behavioral response to mass-customized food service (S-R relationship) (Kuo & Cranage, 2010; Wolf and Zhang, 2016), failing to embrace S-O relationship that focuses on how mass customization differs from a standard system in terms of how consumers perceive value. Considering that mass customization services can be regarded as a form of customer engagement strategy (Chathoth et al., 2014; Chathoth et al., 2016), it can be assumed that mass customization in services can induce positive consumer perception. Second, little research has yet examined situational factors that affect consumer response in purchasing mass customization of products/service. Considering that service environments play a significant role in service delivery by strengthening customer perceptions and retention (Baker, Parasuraman, Grewal, & Voss, 2002; Sherman, Mathur, & Smith, 1997), it is necessary to identify the internal and external environmental factors that limit or enhance consumers’ perceived value of the mass customization for effective implementation of the mass customization strategy. The aim of the present research is to empirically examine the effects of mass customization on consumer responses. It is hypothesized that consumers’ perceived value might be high for mass customization in food consumption service (compared to food service for a fixed menu) (H1), which is consistent with previous literature on consumer responses to mass customization in tangible. Furthermore, the current research further includes various environmental stimuli surrounding the situation of purchasing customized food items to better predict how consumer’s perceived value of mass customization might be formed within the context of service industry. Based on the assumption that (a) people's choice of consumption is affected by the expectations of how others evaluate their decisions (Ariely & Levav, 2000; Calder & Burnkrant, 1977) and that (b) consumers are more concerned about social norms and therefore make similar choices to blend in resulting in uniformity at the group level (Tice, Butler, Muraven, & Stillwell, 1995), it is expected that consumers sometimes feel compelled to refrain from choosing favorites because of how they expect to be perceived by others, hindering consumer’s benefits of mass customization. In addition, there are two food types based on the goal of consuming food: utilitarian food and hedonic food (craving for sweetness, e.g., desserts) (Wansink, Ittersum, & Painter, 2004; 2005). In pursuing the hedonic goal, the consumer tendency to engage in various behaviors is strengthened by the desire to express one’s personality to others (Ariely & Levav, 2000; Ratner & Kahn, 2002). Accordingly, in the present research, we explore the perceived value of mass customization moderated by social influence (H2), and food type (H3). In this model, social influence (group vs. individual), which is the factor outside the scope of customizing process, is regarded as an external variable and food types (utilitarian vs. hedonic), divided according to the purpose of food consumption, as an internal variable. Method We used a 2 (customization: low vs. high) × 2 (social influence: individual vs. group) between subject experiment conducted on the subjects regarding two types of food service: utilitarian food (main course) and hedonic food (dessert). We assigned 208 participants randomly to one of four conditions. Participants were asked to imagine they were visiting the high customized restaurant with their colleague together (vs. alone) that provide high customized service (vs. low customized service) and saw a menu for a food item. Modified from Kuo and Cranage (2010) study, two level of customized menu scenarios were used in this study. In the high customization scenario, participants are told that they were in a restaurant where they were offered to customize their dishes with choices of ingredients. In the low customization condition, participants were told that they were in a restaurant where they ordered among fixed menu items. Based on pretest result, we used pasta, which is entrée for the utilitarian food, and use ice-flake, which is dessert for the hedonic food. After reading the scenario, participants provide their perceived value of mass customization ratings of the service process. Results and Conclusion First, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant effect of mass customization demonstrating that on perceived value, participants who read mass customization service condition had a higher perceived value on their food than participants in the fixed menu condition (H1). Second, in order to examine whether social influence (H2) and food type (H3) moderate the effect of mass customizatino on consumer perceptions, a moderated moderation model was performed a bootstrapping procedure with 5000 samples using the PROCESS model 3 (Hayes, 2016). The result revealed a significant three-way interaction effect among level of customization (high vs. Low), social influence (group vs. individual), and food types (utilitarian vs. hedonic). As the level of customization increases, the overall perceived value increases; however, it is confirmed that, when making decisions about food in a group situation, there are restrictions on perceiving the value that the consumer can customize and feel as compared to the individual situation. Finally, impact of social influence on the perceived value of customization is moderated by food type (hedonic vs. utilitarian). In other words, in hedonic food consumption situation, the modeartion effect of social influence on the perceived value of customization is weakened. Consumers are more likely to appreciate the process and consider it more palatable when they use mass customization service in restaurant. However, when people are conscious of the presence of others, the act of selecting food ingredients according to one’s own preference is restricted. Therefore, even if customized food is ordered in the presence of the group, its perceived value will be as lower than that of a fixed menu. In addition, when people use mass customization service in hedonic food consumption situations, regardless of group influence, they perceive that the value of customized menu is higher than that of the fixed menu. We expect that the study findings and framework will provide practical and theoretical implications such as the development of theories on food service situations, as well as aid restaurants in establishing marketing strategies. In addition, identifying internal and external environmental factors that limit consumers’ perceived value of mass customization will enable restaurants to find a suitable menu composition method to enhance and maintain customers’ perceived value and build a promotional strategy accordingly.

We examined whether hybrid consumers exist in the commodity food market by comparing food products in general, fresh pork and precooked pork patties using an online questionnaire (N=200). The same consumers changed their selection criteria depending on the type of commodity food product they were considering, reflecting hybrid consumer attitudes.