Motivational Typology of Online Food Souvenir Shoppers and Their Travel-Related Intentions

Abstract

Online shopping has tremendous growth nowadays. Concerns about whether people perceive food souvenirs as commercial goods or products with local connections arise when shopping online for those souvenirs. Another concern is whether people remain interested in knowing or visiting places where food souvenirs originate even if they can simply purchase food souvenirs online. These issues are important for the sustainable development of local tourism. This study aims to investigate consumers’ motivations for purchasing food souvenirs online and whether differences exist between segmented consumers in relation to their travel-related intentions. Participants of this work are individuals who have purchased food souvenirs online and are aged 18 years old or above. Social media applications, such as Facebook and Line, were utilized as the platforms for the questionnaire survey. Participants’ motivations for purchasing food souvenirs online included five factors: exploring trends, local affiliations, social interactions, frugal sampling, and enforcing relationships. According to their motivations, participants were segmented into four types of consumers, including pleasure reminiscers (47.0%), journey recallers (22.9%), economical tasters (17.4%), and social practicers (12.7%). Pleasure reminiscers have stronger intentions toward searching for information on, traveling to, and recommending the places where food souvenirs originate compared with the other three types of consumers. On the basis of the findings, suggestions for the design and marketing of food souvenirs are provided for the producers of food souvenirs and promoters of local tourism.

When souvenirs meet online shopping – the effect of food souvenir types on online sales

“…Tourist consumption of local food is associated with the desire for authenticity and can be considered a distinctive way to experience the local life of a destination (Bessiere & Tibere, 2013). Importantly, seeking local affiliation was listed as a major motivation for purchasing food souvenirs (Huang et al, 2020). Tourists attach importance to local uniqueness and cultural characteristics (Plaza et al, 2015) and tend to buy souvenirs with such characteristics (Kim & Littrell, 2001).…”

“…Sims (2009) argued that food is a representative and symbolic item of destinations, and the consumption of local food contributes to the sustainability of local economies, cultures and environments. While Huang et al (2020) discussed customer motivation to purchase food souvenirs from online websites, this study is among the first to investigate the key factors determining consumers' purchase of food souvenirs. This study contributes to the food souvenir literature by empirically investigating the influence of both brand awareness and local characteristics on consumer preferences for food souvenirs.…”

“…Food is not only a basic necessity for humans but can also be a major tourist attraction in some destinations (Sims, 2009). Compared to nonfood souvenirs such as clothing, mugs and keychains with printed images, which are weakly related to the destination, food is likely to enhance tourists' experience as a reflection of the local terroir, culture, climate and historical background (Huang et al, 2020; Lin & Mao, 2015). In fact, ‘intangible’ attributes, such as local culture, are considered the most valuable characteristics of souvenirs (Suh & McAvoy, 2005).…”

Peningkatan potensi desa wisata melalui pengembangan kemasan oleh-oleh

“…Saat ini produk tersebut dijual secara eceran, hanya di taruh di kios yang disediakan oleh Pengelola Wisata Café Sawah, namun belum dikemas secara memadai untuk Is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributions-Share Artike 4.0 International LIcense bisa menjadi oleh-oleh. Kemasan oleh-oleh menekankan keunikan dan afiliasi lokal (Huang et al, 2020). Oleh-oleh berfungsi juga sebagai sarana promosi suatu tujuan wisata.…”

Uji Kelayakan Desain Kemasan Produk Makanan Oleh-Oleh Umkm Jawa Barat Menggunakan Chi-Square

“…Aspek kegunaan lainnya dari desain kemasan makanan perlu diperhatikan, terlebih lagi di masa pandemi ini penjualan makanan secara online yang dihantarkan pada konsumen melalui layanan transportasi online berperan dalam mempertahankan keberlanjutan dari usaha tersebut, karena keharusan mematuhi protokol kesehatan guna mencegah penyebaran COVID-19 [7]. Makna simbolik terdiri dari keaslian, tradisi dan aspek keaslian [8]. Tradisi dan budaya lokal dapat menjadi salah satu keunikan yang diaplikasikan pada desain kemasan.…”