Impact of Social Media Use on Segmentation of Dining out Behavior Among Younger Generations: A Case Study in South Korea

This study examined how eating out behavior and variety-seeking tendency in food choice (VARSEEK) differ depending on social network service (SNS) use and recommended information utilization (SURU), focusing on Korean generation Z youth. To this end, participants were categorized as high, middle, or low based on their SURU score; eating out behavior, as well as VARSEEK, were then compared across the three groups. The results indicated that higher SURU scores were associated with a higher frequency of cooking, a higher frequency of eating out, a higher average cost of eating out per person, and a greater tendency to perceive oneself as gourmet. In relation to VARSEEK, the high and middle SURU score groups demonstrated significantly higher mean scores than the low group. This finding suggests that the greater the SURU level, the greater the food neophilic inclination, expressing an affinity for unique, unfamiliar, or exotic cuisine and a willingness to experiment with novel recipes. Consequently, SURU leads to more frequent eating out, resulting in consumers expanding into a food neophilic tendency to try more diverse and new foods. Based on these results, SURU can be a useful indicator for segmenting food- and restaurant-related markets; consumers with a high level of SURU are a group to pay attention to in marketing as they can be tested when introducing new foods into the market.