Abstract

Recently, rice producers and related institutions have started to brand rice to increase sale. Despite such trend and the significance of rice branding to many parties including policy makers, no previous research has studied the relationship between consumers' psychological and socio-economic factors that underline consumer choice and judgment of branded rice. This paper discusses the variables related to branding through a survey based on 242 convenience consumer samples selected in Seoul metropolitan area in Korea, and presents the results and their implication for future research. The major findings are: 1) Consumers are reasonably well aware of rice-branding practices, and the main source of such information is in-store displays and packages, 2) It appears that consumers in general choose a rice brand based mainly on its taste and nutrition, and 3) the perceived difference among rice brands differs depending on some consumer characteristics. The perceived differences among rice brands in taste and in nutrition are relatively high for brand-loyal consumers and high-income consumers respectively. The perceived difference among rice brands in brand reputation is also relatively high for young, low-income, and brand-loyal consumers.

Keywords

• Branded rice;
• Consumer perception;
• Buying behavio