Asian Foods in the U.S.: Developments, Customer Profiles, and Experiences

Abstract

In light of the growing popularity of Asian foods in the United States, this study highlights six Asian foods: Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese. This study briefly examines the developmental stages of each type of Asian food in the United States and further investigates the socio-demographic profile of Asian food customers in the United States and their experiences with Asian foods. As one of the major findings, each Asian food serves its own part of the ethnic market: the customers of Indian food are Caucasian-dominant, while customers of Korean and Vietnam foods are Asian and Hispanic Americans, in addition to Caucasians. Word-of-mouth is the major source of information about restaurant decisions, indicating the importance of customer satisfaction. This study indicates that Asian food customers appear to be motivated by a variety of factors. Restaurateurs need to understand these motives and incorporate significant motives into communications with potential customers. More findings are provided as the outcomes of this exploratory study, which can serve as an information base for further ethnic food research.