Abstract
The purpose of this study was conducted to investigate the perception of Korean kimchi among Americans' living in different areas in the United States. A questionnaire was given to males 126 (40.4%) and females 186 (59.6%) residing in Illinois and California. The results were as follows: 86.0% of the participants answered that kimchi was Korean in origin, and 84.1% reported that they had eaten kimchi. Additionally, 56.8% and 52.3% of the respondents in Illinois and California had purchased commercial kimchi at home-made. Among the kimchi they had experienced, out of the total respondents, 92.4% had eaten baechu kimchi, 45.5% had eaten mu kimchi and 42.4% had eaten oi kimchi (When the responses from the residents of Illinois were evaluated: 100.0% of the respondents had eaten baechu kimchi, while 47.7% had eaten mu kimchi, and 40.9% had eaten bak kimchi. Evaluation of the responses of residents from California revealed that: 88.6% had eaten baechu kimchi, 45.5% had eaten oi kimchi, and 44.3% had eaten mu kimchi respectively). For evaluation of the their kimchi preference of the overall population revealed that, 71.0% preferred baechu kimchi, 9.2% oi kimchi, and 8.4% mu kimchi (Of the respondents in Illinois: 69.8% preferred baechu kimchi, 14.0% mu kimchi and 7.0% bak kimchi, while for Californians: 71.6% preferred baechu kimchi, 11.4% oi kimchi and 8.0% bak kimchi, respectively). Regarding the primary reason they purchased commercial kimchi, 64.9% responded 'its taste' (67.4% in Illinois and 63.6% in California), additionally, 40.0% stated of the package they purchased was 200g (51.2% in Illinois and 34.5% in California). After having eaten kimchi, 45.5% answer reported that it tasted good, and the their primary reason for liking kimchi was its, 'spicy and hot taste' (51.3%), The main reasons for not liking kimchi were the odor (garlic, ginger, anchovy juice, etc) and it being too spicy, respectively. Regarding improvements for its expanded consumption, 25.0% answered 'not to improve', 22.7% answered 'reduce the strength of the strong seasoning', and 20.5% answered 'to allow over-ripening'.