The objective of this study was to explore the role of familiarity in cross-cultural product perception and perception changes according to food systems (hot sauce and spicy-chicken) in Korean and US consumers. Free choice profiling was conducted by Korean and US consumers on four spicy-chicken samples made using four hot sauce samples. Half of the hot sauce samples were selected to be more familiar to US consumers and vice versa to Korean consumers. A previous study that investigated cross-cultural perceptions of the same four hot sauce samples in US and Korean consumers was incorporated in this study. For distinct sample differences, US and Korean consumers perceived products similarly. However, for less obvious differences, flavor familiarity seemed to affect consumers’ product perceptions. In addition, product perceptions changed more dramatically according to food systems for familiar samples in each country. The findings of this study show that consumers’ product perception can be affected by flavor familiarities.

Despite expansion of the mulnaengmyeon market, there have been no studies on consumers’ attitudes towards mulnaengmyeon. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usage and consumption patterns for mulnaengmyeon among adults in the Seoul metropolitan area of Korea. A survey including demo- and socio-graphics, general mulnaengmyeon usage, and consumption questions was tested on 210 consumers. The results of the survey showed that the majority of consumers consumed mulnaengmyeon more frequently during summer. Although the instant mulnaengmyeon market has rapidly increased, it was found that mulnaengmyeon is a food that is generally consumed in restaurants. In addition, mulnaengmyeon usage and consumption patterns significantly differed according to consumer age, whereas there was no difference observed according to parent’s or grandparent’s hometown of origin. Older consumers were observed to consume and purchase mulnaengmyeon as well as instant mulnaengmyeon more often than young consumers. Also, older consumers were shown to consider “health” related factors as more important when selecting mulnaengmyeon, whereas young consumers considered “price” related factors to be more important.

Bulgogi (Korean-traditional barbequed beef) is one of the most globally well-known Korean foods. Though various attempts have been made to promote bulgogi, studies are limited understanding mostly to US consumers or foreigners who reside in Korea. China, the world’s most populous country, has the biggest market potential in the world. The purpose of this study was to understand reasons of liking or disliking bulgogi products in Chinese consumers who reside in China in comparison to Korean consumers. The bulgogi used in this study differed in its main marinating ingredients. Check-all-thatapply (CATA) questionnaire was used to collect the reasons why one liked or disliked the given bulgogi product. CATA result showed that even for the same product, Korean and Chinese consumers liked or disliked it for different reasons. In particular, unlike Koreans, Chinese consumers reported sweet taste and garlic flavor as reasons for disliking the samples with high amounts of sugar and garlic, respectively. This seemed to be the result of differences in familiarity of consumers to certain tastes and flavors. The results imply the influence of culture in consumer preferences.