A Comparative Study on the Designer-Oriented Current Status of Menu Book Designs in the Restaurants of Incheon Area

Kwon, Sunja; Lee, Joon Hyun

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the designs of the menu books as an important tool of marketing and then present its improvement strategies. For this, the investigator comparatively examined the current status of menu book designs of the restaurants in Incheon area with 295 managers and then analyzed menu book designs by its designers. Menu book designers were printing houses (42.0%), specialized business (31.9%) and managers/employees (26.1%). 51.5% of menu books were impossible to substitute partially. Even there were seasonal menus or event menus, 27.5% of them were impossible to replace menu books partially; therefore, it was impossible to take a prompt action for seasonal or event menus. The easiness of understanding the terminology in menu books was average 2.74 +/- 0.45(3-point scale). The harmony of menu book design with restaurants was average 2.46 +/- 0.51 (3-point scale). Comparing to the menu books designed in specialized business, the menu books designed in printing houses or by managers/employees were uniform in type sizes (p < 0.001), had no menu photos (p < 0.001) and explanations (p < 0.001), and did not classify menus by groups (p < 0.001) in general. In addition, profit-making menus were not properly emphasized (p < 0.001), thus making the design of menu books a little improper. Therefore, it is necessary to educate managers in the restaurants to understand the importance of menu books and thus improve it. In addition, by maintaining close communication with designers of menu books, managers in the restaurants must ensure for their menu books to be designed appropriately, thus making their menu books play the role of an important marketing tool.