The relationships between culinary innovations and variety seeking, tendencies, gastronomic image and behavioral intentions: The moderating role of social media use

The aim of this research is to identify the relationships between tourists' variety seeking tendencies, attitudes towards culinary innovations, perceptions of gastronomic image, local food consumption behavior and intentions to visit the destination. This study also examines the moderating role of social media usage in the relationship between attitudes towards culinary innovations and gastronomic image. The research was conducted through online and face-to-face surveys administered to foreign tourists visiting Alanya between April and June 2023. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were employed to reach at individuals in the identified sample. A total of 1028 survey forms were collected. After removing outliers and incomplete survey forms, analyses were conducted using 786 available survey forms. The hypotheses within the research model were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, explanatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that the variety seeking in food has a positive impact on attitudes towards culinary innovations and gastronomic image. Additionally a positive effect of attitudes towards culinary innovations on gastronomic image was identified. Furthermore a positive influence of gastronomic image on the intention to consume local food was determined. Moreover a positive effect of gastronomic image on the intention to revisit the destination was observed. It is also evidenced that the intention to consume local food positively affects the intention to revisit the destination. Furthermore it is revealed that both the motivation to use social media and use of social media for food and destination choices have a moderating role in the relationship between attitudes towards culinary innovations and gastronomic image.