Gastro-nostalgia and cultural familiarity shaping tourists’ perceptions of food attributes and future behaviors in culinary tourism

Understanding the influence of gastro-nostalgia and cultural familiarity on tourists’ perceptions of food attributes and future behaviors is crucial for enhancing tourism experiences and garnering tourist loyalty. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this study conceptualizes food quality, food preparation and presentation, and food authenticity as key stimuli that influence emotional responses (gastro-nostalgia) and subsequent tourist behaviors (revisit and recommendation intentions). A three-wave, time-lagged survey design was employed to mitigate common method bias (CMB), capturing data from 556 tourists across three sequential stages. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to assess main (direct), mediating (indirect), and moderating (conditional) effects while artificial neural network (ANN) analysis complemented by identifying the most influential food attributes across predictive models. CB-SEM results revealed that all three food attributes positively influence revisit and recommendation intentions, with gastro-nostalgia operating as a (partial) mediator, while cultural familiarity serves as a moderator by amplifying the effects of food attributes on gastro-nostalgia and behavioral intentions among culturally familiar tourists. ANN results validated the importance of food preparation and presentation as well as food authenticity as key predictors across all outcome variables. When taken collectively, these insights provide a comprehensive understanding of how sensory and emotional experiences in gastronomy can be leveraged to improve tourism strategies and foster tourist loyalty.