J Nutr Health.  2021 Oct;54(5):534-546. 10.4163/jnh.2021.54.5.534.

Meal kit purchasing behavior and relationship with the nutrition quotient of young adults in Chungnam

• Lee EY
• Kim YM
• Choi MK

• KMID: 2522203
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2021.54.5.534

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed at understanding meal kit purchasing behavior and investigating its relationship with the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) of young adults.
Methods
We conducted a survey on adults in their 20s and 30s covering their meal kit purchase experience, satisfaction, recognition, and purchase intention, and examined the relationship between the meal kit purchase and their NQ from February to March 2021.
Results
Among the 404 subjects, 37.9% of males and 48.0% of females had experience in purchasing a meal kit (p < 0.001). The highest response indicated that the purchase cost of meal kits was 10,000-20,000 Won at a time, and the frequency of purchase was less than once a month. The convenience of cooking was the main reason for the purchase of meal kits, which were consumed mainly in the evening with family. The satisfaction with the purchase experience of a meal kit was rated 3.6 points for males and 3.7 points for females out of 5 points, and the satisfaction experienced by women was significantly higher than men in terms of freshness of ingredients, packaging design, and adequacy of the quantity of content (p < 0.05). Recognition of the meal kit was rated 3.5 points for males and 3.7 points for females out of 5 points. The purchase intention of the meal kit was rated 3.8 points for those with prior purchase experience, 3.2 points for the non-experienced, 3.3 points for males, and 3.6 points for females out of 5 points each (p < 0.001). The NQ score of dietary behavior in females with experience of meal kit purchases was significantly higher than non-experience (p < 0.05).
Conclusions
The dietary behavior of female showed a significant difference by the meal kit purchase experience. It is necessary to understand the consumers' meal kit purchasing behavior to enable the development of various health-oriented meal kit products.

Keyword

meal kit; purchasing; behavior; nutrition quotient; young adult