This study evaluated the perception, consumption behavior, and optional attributes of Korean, Chinese, and U.S. consumers of energy bar products. Data were compared and analyzed by surveying 300 consumers in each country. Significant differences were observed in preference for energy bars according to their nationality, in the order China, the U.S., and Korea. Perception of taste, types and dietary suitability of the products ranked lower for Korean consumers, as compared to consumers of the United States and China. The order dietary fiber, protein, and calcium were the sought-after nutritional requirements of the products. The demand for protein was significantly higher in the U.S. Calcium demand was low in the United States and China, but was very high in Korea, which could be attributed to the low calcium intake of Koreans. Other optional attributes which were closely associated with the purchase and re-purchase decision, included price, taste and delivery period. All three factors were recognized as important options in Korea, whereas awareness of packaging/ appearance and brand was not. The taste, nutrients and price in the U.S. ranked high as important optional attributes, while the packaging, external and expiration dates were recognized as low. Unlike Korea and the U.S., important optional attributes for Chinese consumers were determined in the order expiration date, taste, and nutrients, and showed low perception for packaging, appearance, weight, counts, and prices. Evaluating the preference for the main and secondary ingredients, Koreans preferred nuts over grains, Americans preferred dried fruits over nuts, and Chinese preferred nuts and grains; both Korean and American consumers had low preference for dried vegetables. The preference for chocolate was low in Korea and China, whereas preference for jelly was high in China as compared to Korea and the U.S. The intention of purchasing energy bars was significantly lower in Korea than in the U.S. and China. A variety of nutritious functional bars have recently been distributed and sold in Korea, but they are mostly produced in the U.S., which is the largest producer and consumer worldwide. Taken together, results of this study indicate that the demand for nutritional enhancement and preferred materials vary according to the nationality. Hence, it is necessary to develop products that reflect these criteria. Further research is required to analyze the relationship between preference and consumption behavior for each material product developed in the future.

This study was conducted to compare differences in dietary habits and snack consumption behaviors according to level of job stress among 20- to 30-year-old office workers. Subjects were 205 office workers working in companies located in Seoul and the metropolitan area. Self-administered questionnaires written by the subjects were statistically analyzed by the SPSS 20.0 program. Subjects were classified into a high-risk job stress group (n=102, High-RSG) or low-risk job stress group (n=103, Low-RSG) by level of job stress. For dietary habits, the duration of meal time before suffering from job stress in High-RSG was significantly faster compared to Low-RSG. Appetite after suffering from job stress in High-RSG was significantly higher compared to Low-RSG. For snack consumption behaviors, the reason for snack intake was ‘job stress’ for 42.2% in High-RSG and ‘hunger’ for 31.1% in Low-RSG (p<0.05). Energy intake in the form of chocolates, castellacakesmuffins, and flavored milk during working hours was significantly higher in High-RSG compared to Low-RSG (p<0.05). Therefore, this study suggests that dietary guidelines to ameliorate job stress should be developed in order to manage and improve dietary habits caused by suffering from job stress among young office workers at companies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the consumption behaviors for purchase of Home Meal Replacement (HMR) products and importance and satisfaction on selective attributes of HMR in middle-aged adults by gender. The subjects were 919 middle-aged adults (400 males and 519 females; 40 to 64 years) residing in Seoul and its metropolitan area, who have HMR purchasing experience. The survey was conducted from January to August 2018. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 program. Consumption frequency of HMR products in male and female subjects was 1-2 times a month by 42.3% and 40.8% and 4-6 times a month by 26.8% and 19.8%, respectively (p<0.05). Reasons for purchasing HMR in male and female subjects were shown significantly different from saving time by 44.8% and 50.5% and easy cooking by 25.8% and 16.6%, respectively (p<0.01). HMR products with high preference and satisfaction for the subjects included Gimbap, precooked dried rice, and frozen food. According to the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), selective attributes of HMR with high importance and low satisfaction in the second quadrant were food additives, origin, nutrient content, and price, for both male and female subjects; additionally, hygiene was a factor included only by female subjects. Therefore, these results suggest that it is needed to consider to produce HMR products with improved qualities using reliable food materials and ingredients and to maintain competitive pricing for the expansion of HMR products consumption of middle-aged adults.

This study was analyzed to provide fundamental data on the relationship between fast food consumption behaviors and food-related lifestyle types. Data was collected from 268 middle students in the Incheon region through a self-administered questionnaire. A factor analysis extracted five comprising food-related lifestyle, which we named health seeking (factor 1), taste seeking (factor 2), easy seeking (factor 3), popularity seeking (factor 4) and safety seeking (factor 5). According to the results of the factor analysis, the food-related lifestyle showed that the average consumption was more than 2.95 and, 0.792 in Cronbach alpha coefficient. There were significant differences in the influence factor for the selection of fast food according to taste seeking and, popularity seeking types (p<0.05). Also, the easy seeking and safety seeking lifestyle types showed a significant differences for the reason the choosing criteria of fast food (p<0.05). Especially, the nutrition problem was of the highest importance for the health and safety seeking but an advertisement effect trend appealed more to the taste seeking, easy seeking and popularity seeking lifestyles. There were significant differences in fast food of intake frequency according to health seeking, easy seeking, popularity seeking and safety seeking types (p<0.05). A significant positive result of the internal characteristics of fast food consumption (p<0.05) was shown for the health seeking and safety seeking types. A significant positive result of the external characteristics of fast food consumption (p<0.05) was shown for the popularity seeking and safety seeking types.

This study was carried out to investigate the consumption behaviors of environmentally-friendly agricultural products, including satisfaction of purchases. Questionnaires completed consumers were statistically analyzed. Regarding purchase frequencies of environmentally-friendly agricultural and animal products, consumers consumed them 1 time per month. No significant differences in consumption by age, living area, family type, or BMI were found. Exactly 38.2% of consumers preferred to purchase items in the packing amount of 0.2-0.5 kg, whereas 39.7% of consumers preferred amounts from 0.5-1.0 kg. Significant differences in packing amount were found according to age (p<0.05) and family type (p<0.01). However, there were no significant differences according to living area or BMI group. Many consumers made decisions based on the outer packing label (69.6%). Significant differences by age and living area were not found, whereas there was significant difference according to family type (p<0.05). Consumers answered that they purchased products in a general supermarket (24.7%) and cooperative (24.2%). Significant differences were found by age and living area (p<0.01) but not by family type. Consumer satisfaction of purchases scored 3.39 out of 5 points. In conclusion, significant differences in consumer satisfaction were not found according to age, living area, family type, or BMI.

This study was designed to provide fundamental data on the consumption of fast food for a balanced diet of university students. The effects of personal characteristics and preferences such as gender, major, residing region, living expense, school grade, dieting, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption on fast food consumption patterns were analyzed by surveying university students. The analysis showed significant differences (p<0.05) in the consumption of different types of fast food depending on different personal characteristics and preferences as follows : hamburger by major, physical activity and alcohol consumption; chicken by school grade, physical activity and alcohol consumption; spaghetti by gender and smoking. Groups of different majors and school grades showed significant differences (p<0.05) in response to a question “Have you ever eaten fast food for regular meals?”. The choice of fast food types based on taste and price appeared to be significantly influenced by majors and gender. Different groups with different majors and dieting experience appeared to think significantly differently about fast food. In response to a question “Has the consumption of fast food changed your diet style” different groups of different majors and physical activities showed significant differences. The analysis of factors affecting fast food choices revealed that fast food is chosen significantly differently depending on gender and majors (p<0.05). The purchase of fast food appeared to be significantly affected by gender, diet, physical activity, experience of fast food and consumption of fast food for regular meals (p<0.05).

This study attempted to identify differences in Korean food consumption behaviors between groups of Japanese consumers segmented in accordance to their food-related lifestyles. This study was performed to provide Korean food service companies basic information to implement a strategy for the globalization of Korean food. As a result of the empirical analysis, the food-related lifestyles of Japanese consumers were deduced to the following four factors: "health and safetyoriented lifestyle", "palate and safety-oriented lifestyle", "economic efficiency-oriented lifestyle", and "simplicity-oriented lifestyle". Further, as a result of the cluster analysis, food-related lifestyles were classified into the following three groups: "a group highly interested in food-related life", "an economic efficiency-oriented group", and "a simplicity-oriented group". Second, there were significant differences in demographic characteristics and the characteristics of Korean food consumption behaviors between the groups. Third, also in a comparison of satisfaction with and loyalty to Korean restaurants with crucial attributes during the selection of Korean food, there were significant differences between the groups. Therefore, it is necessary to develop various Korean food products that will cater to Japanese consumers in accordance with each segmented group.

The objective of this study was to investigate the consumption pattern of snacks-containing trans-fatty acid in adolescents living in the Kwang-ju area of Korea, and to analyze the relevance toward their eating behaviors, body composition, nutrient intakes, and consumption frequency of snacks-containing trans fatty acid. A survey questionnaire was developed in order to investigate general environmental factors, eating behavior, nutritional knowledge, and the consumption frequency of snacks-containing trans fatty acid. A total of 312 middle school students were surveyed. The collection rate was 97% and ultimately 282 cases were analyzed. Anthropometric measurements, body composition data, and nutrient intakes were also collected. The consumption frequencies for snacks-containing trans-fatty acid were negatively correlated with food behavior scores (p〈0.01) however, pocket money and snack intake frequency per day were positively correlated with consumption frequency. Also, snack consumption frequency had some correlation with the subjects' anthropometric measurements and body composition data such as total body water (p〈0.01), body protein (p〈0.01), body minerals (p〈0.01), and skeletal muscle mass (p〈0.01). Finally, the consumption frequency of snacks-containing trans fatty acid was significantly correlated with calcium intake (p〈0.05), it also showed correlations with vitamin A, retinol, β-carotene, and folic acid intake, although statistical significance was not verified.

This study analyzed the survey results of 302 college students from a coed university in Korea. The following three research components were examined: relationships among different eating styles, violation behaviors after unwanted eating, and consumption behaviors for three different food types. The analysis results showed that restrained eating was positively related to emotional eating, but negatively related to external eating. And emotional and external eating displayed a positive relationship. Body shape dissatisfaction was a significant variable in explaining restrained eating behavior. After unwanted eating, the restrained eaters expressed more regrets and stronger determination to diet than the less restrained eaters. The emotional eaters and external eaters responded that they could not stop eating and performed binge eating behaviors when they failed their diet. With regard to food attitudes and eating styles, snacks were favorably related to emotional eating. Fast food attitudes were negatively associated with restrained eating. Preference was the only significant variable in explaining snack consumption frequency; however sex, preference, and restrained eating were significant for fast foods. Finally, vegetarian foods were explained by preference and sex.