When globalizing Korean food, it is important to conduct regional consumer research before entering the market so that an effective market strategy can be developed. This study was conducted to compare the perceptions regarding Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean food between Swedish and Yugoslavian university students in Växjo, Sweden, where regional market research is lacking. As immigration increases worldwide, comparison of consumer perceptions of immigrants and domestic individuals will provide meaningful insight for use in the development of marketing strategies for areas where immigrant populations are increasing rapidly. In this study, six attributes of Asian food, fresh vegetables, low fat, chicken and sea food, exotic ingredient, value for money and unknown food, were compared. The perception of fresh vegetables and low fat of Chinese food differed significantly among the two groups. Because both of these attributes are health related, these findings indicate that recipe modification may be necessary to adapt to the preferred taste of target customers in this prospective market.

For globalization of Korean food, It is essential to research and analyze target markets in advance. However until recently, there has been a lack of food research in regions of select countries in order to create systematic plans for marketing Korean foods. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the recognition of Korean foods as compared to other Asian foods in young adults living in Vaxjo, Sweden. Over 90 percent of the Swedish students had experienced Thai and Chinese cuisines, indicating their popularity as Asian foods in Sweden. The participants were attracted to six positive attributes of Asian food: 'fresh vegetables', 'low fat', 'chicken and sea food', 'exotic ingredients', 'good value for the money' and 'unknown foods'. The favorite type of Asian food was Thai food and Korean food was the least tried, as over 50% of respondents linked it to 'unknown food' attributes. Based on these results, in order to introduce Korean food more successfully, focus should be placed on the unique and unknown attributes of Korean food, as well as emphasis placed on its healthfulness, to stimulate the curiosity of target markets such as young Swedish adults.