The Role of Local Food Consumption Value in Constructing Food Destination Image
Chapter from the book:
Solunoğlu,
A.
(ed.)
2026.
TOURGASTREC II.
Synopsis
In the highly competitive environment of the contemporary tourism industry, local culinary culture is recognized as one of the most potent components reflecting a destination's cultural heritage and authenticity. This study aims to examine the determining role of tourists’ perceived local food consumption value in the construction of food destination image within a theoretical and empirical framework. The research sample consists of tourists who travel abroad for tourism purposes and experience local cuisine. Data were collected from 655 participants through a structured questionnaire using convenience sampling. The proposed model assumes that the seven-dimensional structure of local food consumption value—taste/quality, health, price, emotional, prestige, epistemic, and interaction values—positively influences food destination image. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via AMOS software. The findings confirm that local food consumption value has a positive and significant effect on food destination image. Results indicate that as tourists derive higher functional and experiential value from local cuisine, the cognitive positioning of the destination as a gastronomic entity becomes stronger. Theoretically, the study integrates consumption value theory with gastronomic destination research; managerially, it provides concrete and actionable implications for destination management organizations on positioning local cuisine as a strategic image-building component.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ramazan Göral; Ali Solunoğlu; Ebru Arıcı- Orhan Batman- Gizem Kandemir Altunel- Şehnaz Demirkol- Kübra Kıymet Arslan- Feyza Altun- Mustafa Emre Şirin- Suat Arpacı- Y. Kemal Özekici- Furkan Dursun- Dilek Karakaş- Canan Semint- Serkan Semint- Nuriye Demir- Betül Şahin- Hasan Cinnioğlu- Aysun Gargacı Kınay- Mehtap Baykal Erdoğan- Evrim Karaca- Ezgi Erşahin- Şehnaz Demirkol- Ayhan Başçı- Semra Akar Şahingöz- Selva Atınç- Hale Özgit- Şerif Ahmet Demirdağ- Cihan Yılmaz- Meliha Sena Yıldırgan- Pelin Candar- Özel Kılıç- Duygu Kırmızıkuşak- Mehmet Koçak- Mustafa Demirel- Halit Sökmen- Ahmet Can Göksun- Duran Kuru- Ece Rua Gülal- Sağbetullah Meriç- Yusuf Ormankıran