Information Usage and Dependency Patterns among Restaurant Customers Based on Their Consumer Value

The purpose of this study was to explore if restaurant consumers' information search and acquisition pattern differ by the consumer value in the rapidly growing Korean foodservice market in Seoul and its suburban areas. Tendency for hedonic value disposition was positively related to usage of information source such as internet (r=.36, p<.01 ), printed media (r= .34, p<01)and restaurant employees or experts (r=32, p<.01). On the other hand, tendency for utilitarian value disposition was positively associated with usage of past experience (r= .27, p<01), marketing inserts (r=.27, p<.01), and family/friends/colleagues (r=.26,p<.01). The relationship pattern between consumer value disposition tendency and information dependency pattern was similar. The results of this study can help restaurateurs identify most effective means of marketing programs to target a specific market defined by socio-demographic characteristics and their core consumer value.