One of the most important initial steps in exporting a food product to another country from the R&D perspective is to describe and translate the sensory characteristics of a food product appropriately into the language of the target country. The objectives of this study were to describe and compare the sensory characteristics of Korean and Japanese style fermented soybean products, and to cross-culturally compare the lexicons of the identical product generated by the Korean and Japanese panelists. Four types of Korean and 4 types of Japanese style fermented soybean consisting of whole bean type and paste type were analyzed. Ten Korean and 9 Japanese panelists were recruited in Korea. Two separate descriptive analyses were conducted, with the panelists differing in their country of origin. Each group was trained, developed lexicon, and conducted descriptive analysis independently. Analysis of variance and various multivariate analyses were applied to delineate the sensory characteristics of the samples and to compare the cross-cultural differences in the usage of lexicon. The Korean and Japanese panelists generated 48 and 36 sensory attributes, respectively. Cross-cultural consensus was shown for evaluating the whole bean type fermented soybean and white miso, which were relatively distinctive samples. However, for the less distinctive samples, the panelists tend to rate higher in negative attributes for the fermented soybeans that originated from the other country. The Japanese panelists grouped the samples by their country of origin and soy sauce flavor was the main attribute for cross-cultural differentiation. However, the Korean panelists did not make a cross-cultural distinction among the samples.

This study was conducted to understand the relationship between familiarity and cross-cultural acceptance for an ethnic sweet treat (Yackwa; Korean traditional cookie) by Korean, Japanese and French consumers. Descriptive analysis and consumer testing were performed on six Yackwa samples. Overall, the samples received favorable responses from the foreign consumers. Korean consumers liked samples with a soft and cohesive texture, whereas Japanese and French consumers liked flaky and crispy texture. French consumers rated stronger sweetness to be more appropriate for Yackwa compared to Korean and Japanese consumers. Texture liking was strongly correlated with familiarity rating in all three countries, indicating that the consumers' previous experience with similar products might affect their preference for certain textural attributes. Familiarity was correlated with all hedonic ratings by Korean consumers, who are most familiar with Yackwa, but with overall and texture liking by Japanese consumers and flavor and texture liking by French consumers. These results suggest that familiarity partly contributes to a foreign consumers' hedonic rating. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSGlobalization and cultural diversity have increased interest in ethnic foods. This trend is motivating food industries to expand into the ethnic food market sector. In this study, the sensory attributes and the cross-cultural acceptability of Yackwa (Korean traditional cookie) were evaluated and the potential role of familiarity in determining consumer acceptance was measured. The outcome of this study will help food exporters, R&D scientists and food marketers in ethnic food market to optimize an ethnic food for other cultural communities by educating them to consider familiarity as an important factor for product development and promotion. bs_bs_banner Journal of Sensory Studies * Standard deviation values are shown in parentheses. The highest and the lowest mean scores for a given sensory attribute were highlighted in bold. † Means of four replicates from the eight panelists; mean values within a row not sharing a superscript letter are significantly different (P < 0.05, Duncan's multiple range test). CROSS-CULTURAL ACCEPTANCE OF YACKWA J.H. HONG ET AL.

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The food industry is increasingly interested in ethnic foods that satisfy sophisticated appetite of today's consumers. Korean cuisine is recently gaining popularity and perceived as "adventurous and spicy," appealing to researchers and marketers in the food industry worldwide. However, it is not easy to develop a new product based on ethnic cuisine because nonsensory factors, such as food neophobia and openness to new culture, can evoke adverse responses from the consumers. A systematic sensory approach can guide the product development by identifying both sensory and nonsensory factors affecting consumer acceptability. This study investigated sensory attributes of Bulgogi (Korean traditional barbecued beef), one of the most famous Korean foods, and compared consumer acceptability between Korea and the United States. The outcomes of this study, such as flavor profiles, consumer responses, evaluation procedure, and approaches taken for cross-cultural comparison, will provide the food industries with valuable information that will help to develop effective strategies for commercializing ethnic foods including recipe development for Bulgogi marinades.

This study was conducted to identify the sensory profiles of gochujang dressing prepared with different formulations, and to compare hedonic responses crossculturally. Gochujang dressing samples were prepared by varying levels of gochujang and sugar. The sensory attributes of the samples were examined by 8 descriptive analysis panelists. Consumers from Korea (n=50), China (n=34), and the US (n=26) participated in the consumer test. Sourness and pungency of the samples were decreased by adding more gochujang. A significant gochujang× sugar interaction was observed for the sweetness and burning sensation. Korean consumers liked the dressing whose sugar level was increased from that of the control. There was no significant difference in Chinese and the US consumers' liking score between the samples, but multiple factor analysis result suggested that the sample with the decreased sugar level was particularly liked by the US consumers whereas the sample with lower gochujang level was disliked by Chinese consumers.