The purpose of this study is to understand consumer awareness and preference regarding rice cakes by surveying the awareness, preference, and consumption behavior of college students regarding rice cakes, and to survey their perception and usage of rice cakes, thereby using the results as basic data to establish measures to develop Korea's rice cakes. To sum up the study's results, the survey included both male (54.5%) and female (45.5%) subjects. Those aged "20 to 23" accounted for the largest share (67.9%) of total respondents, and those majoring in "humanities and social studies" comprised the largest portion (47.8%). A majority of the respondents resided in "small and medium-sized cities", and most either lived at home or lived away from their families. A majority of the subjects received monthly allowances ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 won. In order of awareness, the most well-known type of rice cake was "injeolmi (rice cake made from glutinous rice and coated with bean flour)", followed by "songpyeon (half-moon-shaped rice cake)", "garaeddeok (bar rice cake)", and "baekseolgi (steamed white rice cake)". The women were better aware of "injeolmi", "baekseolgi", and "garaeddeok" than the men, and "soemeoriddeok" was not commonly known among either gender. In terms of preferences for rice cakes, overall, the subjects liked "injeolmi" and "songpyeon" the most. However, certain differences were found in preferences for rice cakes between the men and women. The women exhibited higher levels of preference for "injeolmi" and "songpyeon" than the men. On the other hand, the men revealed higher levels of preference for "baekseolgi", "jeolpyeon", and "garaeddeok" than the women. The most common answer to important factors for popularizing rice cakes was "a diverse assortment of rice cakes", followed by "the development of creative technologies" and "the taste of rice cakes reflecting consumer needs", in order of importance. Among the important factors to popularize rice cakes, "the development of unique packaging containers for rice cakes" (p<0.05) and "the development of proper packaging materials" (p<0.05) showed statistically significant differences. In the survey of consumption of rice cakes, the most frequent answer to the question "why do you like rice cakes? was "their tastes are good" with 146 respondents, followed by "I have been eating them for long" with 115 respondents. To the question "when do you use rice cakes", the most frequent answer was "I use them in daily life" with 133 respondents, followed by "I use them at special events" with 115 respondents. The women were found to use rice cakes frequently in daily life, whereas the men used them frequently at special events. When asked whether they had the intention to use rice cakes as a meal substitute, 100 men answered that they had no intention, whereas 96 women answered that they had the intention. When asked about the type of rice cake considered suitable for a meal substitute, the most popular answer was "injeolmi" with 108 respondents, followed by "baekseolgi" with 106 respondents.