Variety is the spice of life! The effect of the number of side dishes and plate presentation on willingness to try Korean cuisine

One of the prominent features of Korean cuisine is its use of small side dishes (called banchan), which are offered free of charge, a feature that should appeal to price-conscious, variety-craving US consumers. As little is known about how these side dishes and their presentation style influence diners’ perceptions of Korean cuisine, the goal of this study is to examine the joint effect of banchan presentation style and the number such dishes on consumer perceptions of Korean cuisine. An online survey was administered to 171 US participants and a total of 153 responses were valid. The data were analyzed using an ANCOVA and Hayes PROCESS Model 7. The study findings show that the relationship between the number of side dishes (three vs. six) and customers’ willingness to try Korean cuisine is influenced by plate presentation (a single plate vs. multiple plates). With the multiple-plate presentation, customers show a greater willingness to try Korean cuisine with six (vs. three) side dishes. However, such a difference is attenuated with a single-plate presentation.