Who’s Dining and Why? A Study on the Factors of Consuming Vietnamese Food in Chungli﹐Taiwan

• Main Authors: Hsieh,MeiLing, 謝美玲
• Other Authors: Lim, KhayThiong
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/85516970872207522417

碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 東南亞研究所 === 100 === The emergence of considerable Vietnamese food stores has resulted in the increasing visibility of Vietnamese food in Taiwan. In some previous studies of Vietnamese food in Taiwan, which mostly emphasize on the aspects of owners with scanty mention about the consumption in these food stores, this study tries to explore from consumers’ point of view and to analyze their consumption patterns. In this study, three Vietnamese food stores are targeted as the observation fields according to their location area, and consumers are divided into three categories, the Taiwanese, the new Vietnamese immigrants, and the Vietnamese migrant workers. By this means, the differences in consumption patterns and interactions of consumers with various identities in different locations could be clarified, and the reality of the passed-down tastes that are transnational and now settled could be understood. In this study, participant observation and qualitative research are adopted, and the consumer behaviors and the consumption implications are analyzed by observing and interviewing the consumers and the owners. Concepts such as “cultural economy”, “ethnic economy”, “ethnic identity”, “ethnic networks”, and “stranger” are discussed in order to outline the true profile of the consumption relationship within Vietnamese food stores The results showed that all of the three Vietnamese food stores take the same business strategy of valuing all three kinds of customers, but the differences lie in which customers are the majority during holidays or weekdays. There are also migrant worker customers in the food stores within the industrial area during weekdays; however, in the other two food stores, there are mainly new immigrants and Taiwanese customers during weekdays. Most of the Taiwanese customers are introduced and accompanied by their friends, and migrant workers and immigrant families are the major customers during holidays. The dining areas are automatically divided by consumers’ identity, which shows the consumption patterns of “each ethnicity takes what it needs”. The owners often establish “special areas” for the migrant workers to dine in. As to what the customers require from a food stores, Taiwanese are most concerned about the facade of the shop and the sanitation, which the migrant workers are least concerned about. As to the food, Taiwanese customers mostly order dishes that are closer to their local tastes, such as rice noodles and fried spring rolls; however, new immigrants and workers are more concerned about the prices, and they often order the “sour soup”. As to the tastes, all of the owners claim that their food tastes authentic; however, besides Taiwanese who could not tell the differences, both the North and South Vietnamese consumers support and brag about their own favorite food stores. But for the owners of those Vietnamese food stores, it is really difficult to offer truly authentic food in consideration of their business survival. As to the aspect of consumers, Taiwanese are engaged in the “cross-border” consumer behavior of “cultural economy"; migrant workers and store owners originate from similar home country, so for the workers it is a consumer behavior of “ethnic economy” which similar to the return to their own “domestic territory”. New immigrants have a special status, in which they, on the one hand, have originated from a similar countryt as the owners and, on the other hand, are also considered as a foreigner by mainstream Taiwanese, although they have already become citizens of Taiwan. Therefore, the new immigrants consumers are undoubtedly engaged in the “ethnic economy” consumer behavior. The invisible boundaries among strangers prevalently exist in today's society, and when people face different ethnic groups, these boundaries are more distinct; however, they could be dissolved by understanding and acceptance generated from interactions among different ethnic groups.