초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Ethnic food restaurants operated in Korea have increased in terms of the number of stores since 1980s. As demand and supply for ethnic foods increase, the importance of the study on customers visiting ethnic restaurants has been emphasized. Thus, the present study focused on investigating the relationship between physical environments for ethnic restaurants and customers' emotional responses, which consist of positive and negative responses. Furthermore, the current study attempted to understand how customers' emotional responses affect their behavioral intentions. Results showed that five physical environmental factors consisting of comfortableness, cleanliness, convenience, aesthetics, and entertainment(or attractiveness) had a positive effect on a positive response. Except for the entertainment factor of physical environment characteristics, the others negatively affected an emotional response as expected. In addition, the emotional reactions that customers experience bear direct relations to their willingness to return. This outcomes suggest that physical environments for ethnic food restaurants such as color, lighting, and music turn the intangible aspects of the restaurant into tangible services, and ultimately motivate customers to return.
