• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.285-296
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• 2016

This study was conducted to obtain a better understanding of American green tea consumers for increasing Korean green tea sales in the US market. In doing so, this study investigated green tea choice attributes of US consumers and segmented them based upon their perceptions about important attributes of green tea. A factor-cluster segmentation approach was used for this study. An exploratory factor analysis identified five green tea choice motives: 'Sensory', 'Diet', 'Price', 'Health', and 'Brand'. Based upon these five choice attributes, cluster analyses classified all respondents into four homogeneous subgroups: 'Highly motivated', 'Taste/Price oriented', 'Health oriented', and 'Brand oriented'. Cross-tab tests proved that green tea consumption and purchasing patterns were significantly different among the four clusters. In particular, two cluster groups representing 'Highly motivated' and 'Health oriented' groups were found to offer the most utility for further American green tea market segmentation research. Findings show that American green tea consumers include a wide range of age groups and they usually buy green tea at grocery markets. Managerial implications for all cluster groups based upon their unique characteristics are provided. Korean green tea companies can apply these findings in order to develop more effective and efficient marketing strategies to attract American consumers to buy more Korean green tea.