How to communicate typical–local foods to improve food tourism attractiveness

Abstract

This research focuses on the communication of typical–local foods and their consumption as a main motivation for travel experiences and driver of food tourism attractiveness. Past studies have provided an inconsistent understanding of this phenomenon and its underlying psychological processes. Others have called for research on more integrated and effective marketing communications about typical–local foods to increase destination attractiveness, help consumer decision‐making processes and reduce information asymmetry in the food tourism market. Through the application of an integrated framework under the umbrella of signaling theory, we focus on various signals (e.g., “food security,” “trusting relationships,” “emotional value”) associated with three key features of typical–local foods: sustainability, geographical indications and healthiness. We use a combination of neuroscience techniques, including the implicit priming test, eye‐tracking and electroencephalography, to investigate which signals are best at communicating typical–local foods' distinctiveness. We find that consumers/tourists perceive healthiness as typical–local foods' most engaging and attractive product feature, followed by geographical indications then sustainability. Specific signals impact people's visual attention and cognitive engagement differently, with social and emotional attributes being most appealing. Therefore, food tourism managers should focus on these attributes in their communication campaigns to increase food tourism attractiveness and enhance travel experience.

Determining food tourism consumption of wild mushrooms in Yunnan Provence, China: A projection-pursuit approach

“…Hypotheses H 1b , H 4 , and H 5 hold. As mentioned by Savelli et al [ 3 ], the quality and attributes of food itself have become the main driving force for tourists to purchase it. In this study, the projection value of A 2 (food resources) ranks first, indicating that food resources are the key driving force for tourists to consume food tourism.…”

“…“Food tourism” closely links food and regional culture with tourist destinations [ 3 ]. The regional characteristics, ethnic characteristics, participation cognition, and experiential characteristics of food in tourist destinations have become the most important factors in attracting tourists to tourist destinations, stimulating tourism consumption [ 4 ].…”

Systematic Review and Future Direction of Neuro-Tourism Research

“…We discovered one article that looked into this phenomenon. Savelli et al [ 56 ] looked at the ways to communicate typical–local cuisines to increase the appeal of culinary tourism. They assessed the visual attention and cognitive involvement of 40 participants using ET and EEG signals.…”

Valorising the rural pantry: Bridges between the preservation of fruits and slow tourism in Catalonia

“…Food is a key aspect for destination management and marketing [39]. A food identity involves a cultural background [15,35,66] which protects and promotes the local landscapes and lifestyles of places through the production and consumption of foods, such as jams and marmalades, used to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables. Results of this research show that jams and marmalades are no longer understood only as conservation products due to the technologies that allow to preserve food but also as a path to enhance the close relationships between food and the territory.…”