Do Food Image and Food Neophobia Affect Tourist Intention to Visit a Destination? The Case of Australia

Abstract

This study examines the predictive power of cognitive and affective food image components on potential tourists’ behavioral intention. Using Chinese tourists’ perception of Australia as the context, the study adopted a multi-method approach incorporating desktop research, surveys of food tourism stakeholders, and quantitative testing of a model using survey data. Results confirmed that (1) cognitive food image is a formative construct, (2) cognitive food image is a stronger predictor of intention than affective image, and (3) the moderating effect of food neophobia highlights the need for a destination image-building strategy to be sensitive to tourists’ food-related personality traits. Study findings validate a structural model that integrates theories regarding food image and food neophobia to explain destination food image formation. Results also offer a comprehensive formative measurement model of cognitive food image for future research.