Sustainable and Religion Food Consumer Segmentation: Focusing on Korean Temple Food Restaurants

Abstract

As demand for temple food has significantly grown, this study’s objective was to conduct a market segmentation analysis of temple food consumer motives in order to develop effective marketing strategies. The study identified six motives specific to Korean temple food consumption representing “health-oriented,” “ethical vegetarianism,” “meditative mindfulness,” “educational experience,” “taste,” and “environment protection.” Motives were then used to generate four distinct temple food groups named Highly Motivated, Vegetarian, Environment-Oriented and Minimally Motivated. This study provided useful information for the application of Korean temple food marketing strategies for destinations featuring this growing trend in culinary tourism.

Cocreation of gastronomy experience through cooking classes

“…When tourists immerse themselves in a peaceful environment such as a Buddhist temple, they may disconnect themselves from hectic daily routines and pursue solitude and peacefulness (Grafanaki et al , 2005). Evidently, Korean temple food cooking classes encourage participants to maintain mediative mindfulness starting from the initial cooking preparation and even after the consumption of meals, reflecting philosophical Buddhist practices (Park et al , 2020).…”

“…this experience may form an integral part of mind training and cultural experiences (Park et al, 2020). Their experience program offers organized activities as a group where participants become immersed in the activities in collaboration and companionship of others (Ross et al, 2019).…”

“…Buddhist temple cuisine is distinguished from general food in the sense that it helps to train the participants mentally and help to grow in their own religious life (Son and Xu, 2013). The Korean temple food cooking classes encourage participants to uphold positive emotions throughout the cooking process, and this experience may form an integral part of mind training and cultural experiences (Park et al , 2020). Their experience program offers organized activities as a group where participants become immersed in the activities in collaboration and companionship of others (Ross et al , 2019).…”

Influences of background factors on consumers’ purchase intention in China’s organic food market: Assessing moderating role of word-of-mouth (WOM)

“…Among the mentioned motives, heath and ecological aspects are extensively discussed with food choice. In relevant studies, considerable consumers hold that being a vegetarian would significantly benefit their health in a long term, greatly driving them to purchase healthy food (Hoek et al, 2004;Hartmann et al, 2018;J. Park et al, 2020).…”

Analysis of Socially Responsible Consumption: A Segmentation of Spanish Consumers

“…A vast majority of these studies have focused on specific environmental issues or behavioral domains, such as climate change (Hine et al [9] identified over 25 climate change studies employing segmentation methodology), energy (e.g., [10]), waste management and recycling practices (e.g., [11]), travel and transport behaviors (e.g., [12,13]), food waste (e.g., [14]), or choice of grocery store format (e.g., [5]). There are abundant studies on the segmentation of consumers according to their behavior or intentions to buy organic or sustainable food (e.g., [15][16][17][18][19]). To a lesser extent, studies have been carried out that analyze pro-environmental behavior in a global way, taking into account different types of environmental actions (e.g., [20,21]).…”