The moderating role of openness to different cultures and impression management in the effect of hedonic consumption on food neophobia and food neophilia

The aim of the study was to determine the moderating role of openness to different cultures and impression management in the effect of hedonic consumption on food neophobia and food neophilia. For this purpose, data were collected through the survey technique, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The collected data were analyzed through package programs. Validity and reliability tests were conducted to determine the adequacy of the research model and the validity of the hypotheses, and after determining that the obtained data were reliable, factor analysis and then structural equation modeling tests were conducted. According to the results of the structural equation modeling performed, it is seen that hedonic consumption affects food neophobia significantly negatively and food neophilia significantly positively. However, it was determined that openness to different cultures has a moderating role in the effect of hedonic consumption on food neophilia, and that hedonic consumption has no moderating role in the effect of food neophobia. In addition, the analysis results show that impression management has a moderating role in the effect of hedonic consumption on food neophilia, and that hedonic consumption has no moderating role in the effect of food neophobia. The findings show that the relationship between hedonic consumption and food neophilia in gastronomy tourism is significantly affected by variables such as openness to different cultures and impression management tendencies. This situation shows that considering characteristics such as individuals' willingness to try new tastes can make significant contributions to gastronomy tourism research. In this direction, it is recommended to focus on interdisciplinary studies examining consumer behavior with its social and cultural dimensions. In future studies, testing similar models in different cultural contexts, with foreign tourist samples and using mixed methods can increase the generalizability of the findings. In addition, more comprehensive contributions can be made to the literature with new models that include social media effects, generational differences and psychological variables. Keywords: Hedonic consumption, Food neophobia, Food neophilia, Openness to different cultures, Impression management, Unesco gastronomy city.