J Nutr Health.  2022 Oct;55(5):587-600. 10.4163/jnh.2022.55.5.587.

An analysis of customer needs for the operation of unmanned food stores on a university campus

• Kim SE
• Park MS
• Bae HJ

• KMID: 2534860
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2022.55.5.587

Abstract

Purpose
This study was performed to analyze customer needs for the operation of unmanned food stores on a university campus.
Methods
A total of 329 responses were collected from customers who had purchased food at the stores. Statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS program for frequency analysis, χ2-test, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Duncan’s multiple range test.
Results
On average, the overall satisfaction score for lunch and the eating location was 3.91 out of 5 points. Overall satisfaction was significantly higher for home cooking, and lower for eating at convenience stores (p < 0.001), and the score for eating with family was significantly higher than for eating alone or with friends (p < 0.001). On average, the intention to use an unmanned store received a score of 3.98 out of 5 points, while ‘home cooking (3.76)’ was significantly lower than other eating locations and eating at ‘convenience stores (4.38)’ was significantly higher than other eating locations (p < 0.05). The desired time of use for unmanned food stores was ‘lunch (54.1%)’, ‘dinner (46.2%)’, and ‘afternoon snack (41.9%)’, and the desired foods were ‘doshirak (62.0%)’, ‘sandwich (56.2%)’, ‘fruit cup (54.4%)’, ‘salad (51.7%)’, and ‘kimbap (50.5%)’. There were significantly more opinions that single-person households would use unmanned food stores for dinner more than family households (p < 0.05), and significantly more willingness to purchase fruit cup (p < 0.05). The average prices (Korean won) that the subjects were willing to pay for the purchase of food were 4,991 for doshirak, 3,403 for salad, 2,745 for fruit cup, 2,609 for sandwich, and 2,235 for kimbap.
Conclusion
For the successful operation of the unmanned food stores on the university campus, the store manager should grasp the customer’s needs in real-time and establish an effective marketing strategy.

Keyword

unmanned store; lunch; universities; single-person; marketing