An examination of the factors affecting Koreans' intention to consume ethnic food towards Turkish cuisine

Ethnic foods, as products with historical and cultural significance, are consumed today not only for survival but also to understand cultural values. The relationship between country-of-origin image and ethnic food consumption intention has recently become an important research topic, particularly in culturally diverse contexts such as South Korea. This study examines the relationship between the country-of-origin image and ethnic food consumption intention in South Korea and investigates whether food neophilia and consumer ethnocentrism have a moderating effect on this relationship. Data was collected from 253 participants in Seoul, South Korea, and the hypotheses in the proposed research model were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with the SmartPLS 4.0 software. The results show that macro country-of-origin image does not have a significant effect on Koreans' intention to consume Turkish cuisine, while micro country-of-origin image strongly influences ethnic food consumption intention. Additionally, food neophilia strengthens the effect of macro country-of-origin image on ethnic food consumption intention but does not show a moderating effect on the relationship with micro country-of-origin image. Furthermore, consumer ethnocentrism does not have a moderating effect on the relationship with either macro or micro country-of-origin image.