• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.720-728
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• 2008

The objective of this article is to examine Korean consumers' perception level of the country-of-origin of brand (COB) of global restaurant franchises. Although global brands have rushed onto the Korean food service market since 1980, there has been little or no research conducted regarding consumers' perception of COB of global restaurant franchises. In this study, we surveyed consumers to determine their perception of COB for 27 foreign global restaurant brands; specifically, we attempted to determine whether or not Korean consumers could correctly recognize the COB of each brand. The results of this research revealed that Korean consumers correctly perceived the COB of certain restaurant brands, and incorrectly perceived some other brands. For instance, Korean consumers' perception level of the COB of McDonald's and KFC were quite high, and conversely their perceptions of the COB of Outback Steakhouse and Pohoa were relatively low. When consumers select a restaurant brand, COB image was shown to be more influential than brand image.