• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.451-456
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• 2009

When globalizing Korean food, it is important to conduct regional consumer research before entering the market so that an effective market strategy can be developed. This study was conducted to compare the perceptions regarding Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean food between Swedish and Yugoslavian university students in $V{\ddot{a}}xj{\ddot{o}}$, Sweden, where regional market research is lacking. As immigration increases worldwide, comparison of consumer perceptions of immigrants and domestic individuals will provide meaningful insight for use in the development of marketing strategies for areas where immigrant populations are increasing rapidly. In this study, six attributes of Asian food, fresh vegetables, low fat, chicken and sea food, exotic ingredient, value for money and unknown food, were compared. The perception of fresh vegetables and low fat of Chinese food differed significantly among the two groups. Because both of these attributes are health related, these findings indicate that recipe modification may be necessary to adapt to the preferred taste of target customers in this prospective market.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.291-300
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• 2020

Newly graduated students are shown to constitute an important source of innovation within the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. In relation to digital technologies like BIM (Building Information Modelling) that is claimed to have a potential to transform the industry, newly graduated students may play a vital role in innovating with BIM. The paper aims to explore determinants for students perceived potential of BIM use (PPBU) and the role of the educational background. The aim will be achieved by analysing the results from a survey conducted among third- and fourth-year students in construction and civil engineering in Hong Kong, Sweden, and Thailand (n = 194). When the different groups are compared Swedish and Thai students perceive a significant higher PPBU than Hong Kong students. In a step-wise multiple regression analysis five predictors for PPBU were identified for Thai respectively Swedish students, and one predictor was identified for Hong Kong students. It is concluded that in the contemporary BIM-discourse it is claimed that BIM can/should transform the industry, and BIM is even seen as a disruptive technology, and newly graduated students will contribute to (digitally driven) innovation. However, from the predictors of PPBU, the question can raised if the awareness of the need for structural changes is lacking in the education, if students later in their working life should contribute to a BIM-induced transformation of the industry?

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.348-355
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• 2008

For globalization of Korean food, It is essential to research and analyze target markets in advance. However until recently, there has been a lack of food research in regions of select countries in order to create systematic plans for marketing Korean foods. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the recognition of Korean foods as compared to other Asian foods in young adults living in Vaxjo, Sweden. Over 90 percent of the Swedish students had experienced Thai and Chinese cuisines, indicating their popularity as Asian foods in Sweden. The participants were attracted to six positive attributes of Asian food: 'fresh vegetables', 'low fat', 'chicken and sea food', 'exotic ingredients', 'good value for the money' and 'unknown foods'. The favorite type of Asian food was Thai food and Korean food was the least tried, as over 50% of respondents linked it to 'unknown food' attributes. Based on these results, in order to introduce Korean food more successfully, focus should be placed on the unique and unknown attributes of Korean food, as well as emphasis placed on its healthfulness, to stimulate the curiosity of target markets such as young Swedish adults.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2010

This study aims at investigating the linguistic and educational factors affecting TOEFL scores, focusing on three OECD countries, Korea, Japan, and Finland. The data comprise document analysis on curriculums, websites, and literature. The findings reveal that the number of Korean test-takers and their TOEFL scores gradually increased year by year. Finnish test-takers consistently gained greatly high scores, and Japanese examinees showed the lowest scores. The languages Korean, Japanese, and Finnish are all far distant from English and receive little support on historical grounds from the Indo-European family tree. In Finland, however, Swedish which belongs to Indo-European languages is still used as an official language with Finnish. Korea and Finland adopt English education from Year 3 in primary school, whereas English is not an official subject in primary school at present in Japan. Finnish students are taught a foreign language in addition to English from primary school. These seem to support the result of the high TOEFL scores of Finnish test-takers. This study concludes that social context which includes linguistic and educational environments are the main factors which affect TOEFL scores.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.641-648
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• 2009

The principal objective of this study was to analyze Swede's perceptions of Asian food using a means-end chain method, which may contribute to our understanding of new markets for a food industry interested in globalizing Korean food. With the Means-end chain method, one can determine the cognitive structures built in consumer's minds, which are developed by connecting attributes of product, consequences, and values. The attributes of Asian food that are most positively perceived by Swedes are 'fresh vegetables', 'low-fat', 'light meat and seafood', 'exotic ingredients', 'not expensive' and 'unknown food'. The consequences of eating Asian food connected to these attributes are 'healthy', 'tasty', 'good way to save money' and 'curious'. Finally, Swedes expect to enjoy a value of 'achievement' at the end. Based on the result that 'unknown food' attribute is connected to 'achievement' value, Swedes are assumed to be attracted by the fact that Korean food is 'unknown food'. However, the effect of the 'unknown food' attribute will fade away with time; therefore, stressing Korean food's status as a 'healthy' food, which can be attributed to its use of 'fresh vegetable' and 'light meat and seafood' ingredients and 'low fat' cooking method may be effective as a long-term strategy for making Korean food attractive. The 'healthy' consequence is connected to Swedes' perception of the value 'achievement' and simultaneously to their perception of the value 'belonging and love/sense of belonging'.