Applying Diffusion of Innovation Theory
through Adoption Process of Korean Food in the Global Marketplace:
Linking Managerial Issues to Consumers’ Perspectives
Kyung-Soo Han, Visiting Scholar
(2007-2008), St. John’s University, and Director, Foodservice
Industry Management, Kyunggi University, Seoul, Korea
Heidi H. Sung, Division of
Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management, College of
Professional Studies
Abstract: The globalization of
restaurant operations and management is a very complicated exercise
when a different ethnic cuisine is introduced to and adopted in new
market environments. This study attempts to investigate varying
patterns of the adoption process of Korean food, “spicy and
adventurous,” among patrons of Korean Restaurants. Applying
diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 1983; 1995) to the consumer
behavior construct, this study hypothesizes that consumers at a
particular stage of adoption process are likely to be different
from others who belong to a different stage.
A set of individual in-depth interviews have been conducted with
select Korean restaurant operators to identify managerial issues
that need to be addressed and to suggest key factors that can be
used for surveying their own patrons. Based upon such, the survey
instrument is designed to propose a behavioral analysis to classify
how patrons of Korean restaurants might be associated with
different factors such as demographic (D), socioeconomics (SE), and
dining behavior (B) across different adopter categories (C), where
C = ƒ(D, SE, B, and the error term e). Using self-administrated
survey questionnaires, primary data will be collected among
non-Korean patrons of six participating Korean restaurants in New
York City between April and June, 2008.
From a consumer behavior perspective, this study aims to
identify distinctive group characteristics across different adopter
categories and to reveal any meaningful association with various
behavioral or psychographic factors, linking the adopter subgroups
in the diffusion of innovation theories to market segmentation
constructs. Since almost no research relevant to the current topic
has been reported to date, the results of this study will help
restaurant operators and marketers gain a comprehensive
understanding of their prospective patrons across different
adaptation stages, providing valuable information that can be used
almost immediately for product development and for formulating
effective marketing strategies.