Abstract
In order to aide in the design of an improved menu book, which could play an important role as a marketing tool, the current version of the menu books and managers (subjects) of 295 restaurants in the Incheon area were examined. These were managers of Korean (36.3%), Western (25.8%), Japanese (14.6%), cafeteria (12.5%) and Chinese (10.8%) style restaurants. The level of service (self-evaluation, 3-point scale) was average $2.25{\pm}0.45$. The general colorings of the menu books were green (19.0%), brown (18.6%), black (17.6%), yellow (15.9%), red (13.6%) and blue (13.2%). The material of the menu book cover was mainly leather (35.9%), and the internal material was mainly coated paper (59.7%). Physically, the design was two-panel fold (38.3%), two-panel multi-page (35.6%), die style (10.2%), single panel (8.1%) and tent style (7.8%). The type sizes were unchanged in 49.9% of the menu books and in 61.7% photos were not used. 53.9% of menu books did not explain the menus, and 13.2% did not classify the items into groups. Emphasis of profit-making menus was not done in 66.8%. 51.5% of menu books were irreplaceable in parts. The emphasis of profit-making menus was less among the Korean style restaurants (p<0.001). The possibility of partial replacement of menu books was lower in both Korean and Chinese restaurants (p<0.001). The explanation of the items was lower in the Japanese restaurants (p<0.001). The classification of items into groups was lower in cafeteria (p<0.001). In cases in which there were both seasonal and event menus, the possibility of partial replacements of menu books was higher (p<0.001). Restaurants of which service level was less than ordinary were lower in the differentiation of type sizes (p<0.001), the use of photos (p<0.001), the explanation of menus (p<0.001), the classification of menus by groups (p<0.05), the emphasis of profit-making menus (p<0.001) and the possibility of partial replacement of menu books (p<0.001). If these study findings are applied to the designing of menu books, the role of the menu book as an important tool for marketing could be greatly improved.