Factors of customer's preference of visiting coffee shop in South Korea

Coffee shop is currently a most rapid developing business in the world and become a famous trend in
foodservices. South Korea‘s per-capita coffee consumption is five times greater than Asia-Pacific regions and
the total coffee market is valued at about $3 billion in 2014. Although various style and themes sprung up
throughout years, not all coffee shops survive. Thus, this research will explicitly determine the factors prior to
choosing the coffee shop. It will be conducted mainly according to the physical environment in order to examine
the relationship between the factors and customer’s preference. The semantic differential method and structural
equation model were applied to answer the aims of this research. The results and findings of the case study and
analysis show that there are six factors contributing to customer’s preference of a coffee shop. The relationship
of the factors has been analyzed and it is concluded that Impression and Behavior, as mediating factors, have
prominently influenced the customer’s preference.