What drives visitors’ perceptions in street food events? Potential tools to boost the local and regional development (and how to do it)

Abstract

The widespread popularity reached by food trucks (FTs) has led to a reshape of many food events into new forms of street food events (SFEs), in which the FTs become the main attractors for the visitors, and not anymore a simple support element to the event making. Such SFEs have rapidly been recognized as a pivotal place marker for attracting visitors from within and beyond the regional boundaries: it is therefore significant to understand visitors’ motivations to attend a SFE, both for addressing policies and for supporting business decision-making processes, since the overall visitors’ perceptions are related to a form of loyalty towards the visited destination, and this linkage might encourage revisit intentions. This study applies an ordered multinomial model to a SFE taking place in Abruzzo region (Italy) and the main findings reveal that visitors’ perceptions tend to strengthen if they find in the event memorable atmospheres and non-routine food specialties, suggesting the search for a hedonic consumption. In these regards, this study provides implications on how SFEs might represent an enhancer for the local and regional development and how SFEs might help preserve the economic and social fabric of smaller and larger communities.