Development of gastronomic branding scale for cities

Gastronomy tourism, local cuisine and branding are important concepts for sustainability that support and feed each other. Gastronomic richness enables the destinations differentiate from other places, making these differences more apparent is possible through marketing and branding. The protection and development of our historical and cultural values can only be achieved through branding and this is important for sustainable gastronomic tourism. With this study, the gastronomic branding scale of cities (ŞGMÖ) was developed which is a valid and reliable measurement tool for evaluating the gastronomic branding status of cities that consists of six factors and thirtynine statements. Study sample consists of 621 participants in total and contains the followings; academics about the gastronomes in Türkiye, researchers, chefs, gastronomic journalists, writers and specialists, NGOs on gastronomy and branding, gourmets, Culture and Tourism Directorate "Folk Culture" section of the official experts, Afyonkarahisar, Gaziantep and Hatay cities which are UNESCO Gastro cities, Adana and Kastamonu cities which are candidates for UNESCO Gastro cities, gastonomists from cities that stand out with their gastronomic features, graduate and doctoral students of gastronomy and culinary arts, travel, food and beverage business managers, local tourism guides. During the validity and reliability studies of the scale, besides the exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analysis, to ensure the construct validity, "Intention of Revisiting the City" and "Abstract Image Perception of the Cities" ready scales were used. Construction validity was ensured with the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) which was created with six variables that build the gastronomic branding of cities and other two variables by using SmartPLS program. The factors of the scale discovered as the gastronomic infrastructure of the city, local products in traditional cuisine, traditional cuisine practices, gastronomic promotion activities, gastronomy education, city infrastructure and human resources. As a result of SEM analysis, followings have been determined; "Gastronomic Promotion Activities" and "Gastronomy Infrastructure of the City" have significant and positive effects on the "Intention of Revisiting the City". "Gastronomic Promotion Activities" and "Traditional Cuisine Practices" have significant and positive effects on the "Abstract Image Perception of the City". "The Abstract Image Perception of the City" has a significant and positive effect on the "Intention of Revisiting the City". "The Abstract Image Perception of the City" plays a partial mediating role in the effect of "Gastronomic Promotion Activities" on the "Intention of Revisiting the City". "Traditional Cuisine Practices" plays a complete mediating role in the effect of "Gastronomic Promotion Activities" on the "Intention of Revisiting the City". This measurement tool will make a sustainable contribution to the economic and cultural development and welfare of the cities with the application data in cities that stand out with their gastronomic features. It is predicted that it will assist the gastronomic branding studies to be carried out by the researchers and contribute to the literature.