Food-related Personality Traits and the Moderating Role of Novelty-seeking in Food

Satisfaction and Travel Outcomes

Abstract

Previous research on tourist food consumption acknowledges that food-related

personality traits, including neophilic and neophobic tendencies, can impede or encourage

tourists to try novel food at a destination. However, the travel motivation literature advocates that

tourists tend to be in a general condition of seeking novel experiences, including sampling a

destination’s novel food. How food-related personality traits interact with novelty pursuits to

influence tourists’ food consumption and subsequent satisfaction and travel outcomes remains

unknown. The study proposes a framework of tourist food experience that leads from food-

related personality traits, novel food consumption, and satisfaction to travel outcomes. While the

results support the baseline model, the moderating effect of novelty seeking demonstrates that

novelty seeking does not moderate the relationship between personality traits and consumption

of novel food. It does, however, moderate satisfaction with food.

Keywords: food-related personality traits, novelty seeking, neophilic, neophobic, satisfaction

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INTRODUCTION

Tourist experiences have been widely conceptualized as novelty seeking (Lee &

Crompton, 1992; Weaver et al., 2009), and destinations’ culinary delicacies are believed to

satisfy the pursuit of novelty, adventure and cultural encounters (Fields, 2002; Hjalager &

Richards, 2003; Long, 2004). While existing studies approach the relationship from a “foodies”

and food tourism perspective (Getz & Robinson, 2014; Lee, Packer, & Scott, 2015; Robinson,

Anderson, & Vujicic, 2014; Robinson & Getz, 2014), the present study focusses on tourist food

consumption in a general context, owing to the prevailing “obligatory” nature of food

consumption experience for most tourists (Quan & Wang, 2004). This group also has a larger

economic and socio-cultural impact on the destination (Mak, Lumbers, Eves, & Chang, 2012;

Torres, 2002), and thus is a relevant target market for a destination’s promotion of local food

resources (Henderson, 2009).

Recent studies on food consumption have explored the nuanced dimensions that can

influence tourists’ preference for local food in destinations. A range of factors have been

reported, including food-related motivations (Kim & Eves, 2012; Kim, Eves, & Scarles, 2009,

2013; Kivela & Crotts, 2009), food-related personality traits (or “personality traits” hereafter)

(Kim, Suh, & Eves, 2010; Marshall & Bell, 2004), evaluation of dining experience (Chang,

Kivela, & Mak, 2010, 2011; Wijaya et al., 2013), and satisfaction with food consumption and

behavioural intention (Kim et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2010). These studies have drawn attention to

the sensitive, ambiguous and personal nature of tourists’ experience with food.

Such focus on a specific tourist activity has obscured any connection between food

consumption and overall travel motivation, particularly novelty seeking. It has been found that

the novelty-seeking motive significantly influences tourists’ preferences for and attitudes toward

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tourist activities (Fields, 2002; Weaver et al., 2009). Consuming food is one of many tourist

activities and travel motives, and as such, should influence tourists’ preferences for food and

possibly their travel outcomes. Some scholars have advocated that the pursuit of novelty would

encourage tourists to try novel food (Chang et al., 2010; Cohen & Avieli, 2004), although others

contend that food neophobic tendencies (fear of new foods) can still impede tourists’ willingness

to try novel food as they might worry about the perceived risks associated with partaking in it

(Kim et al., 2010). These two divergent arguments and their interaction motivate the current

study. In addition, it is not known how experiences differ between those tourists who

demonstrate neophobic tendencies and avoid novel food and those who demonstrate neophilic

tendencies and choose to consume it.

The present study seeks to understand how tourists’ experience of food interacts with

their travel motive of novelty seeking. Built on previous work (Fields, 2002; Kim et al., 2013;

Lee & Crompton, 1992; Pearson, 1970), “tourist food experience” in this study is expressed in a

framework that leads from tourists’ food-related personality traits, to food consumption,

satisfaction and travel outcomes in the form of positive word of mouth and revisit intention (Kim

et al., 2010). The study has four objectives: To establish (1) how tourists’ food-related

personality traits (i.e. food neophilic/phobic tendencies) determine their consumption of novel

food; (2) how different levels of satisfaction with food in destinations are based on neophilic and

neophobic tendencies; (3) how food satisfaction is related to travel outcomes; and (4) how

tourists’ experience of food is moderated by their travel motive for a novel experience.

To answer these questions, the study used a sample of Chinese tourists in Macau as the

research context. The travel volume and spending potential of mainland Chinese tourists (USD

129 billion; UNTWO, 2014) has aroused the attention of academics. However, studies on

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Chinese tourists’ food preferences are relatively sparse, given that Chinese people are interested

in food, and eating out is an important form of domestic leisure activity (Liu, 2004). As Macau is

a major tourism destination for mainlanders who constitute about 70% of the Macau tourism

market, Macau represents a pertinent context to study Chinese tourists’ food consumption

experience. More particularly, Macau has a variety of culinary styles, ranging from Chinese to

western gourmet, from global food chains to distinctive local food offerings. Macau is also

endowed with a novel “Macanese” cuisine as a result of the integration of Portuguese and

Chinese culinary cultures during Portugal’s rule of over 400 years (Wong, McKercher, & Li,

2014). Food is a unique feature of Macau and appeals to tourists from all over the world (Travel

Trade Gazette UK & Ireland, 2010).

This study contributes to the extant literature by reconnecting tourists’ food consumption

in destinations with general tourist motives, hence providing a more holistic understanding of the

tourist experience with food. Practical implications are also provided.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Framework Overview

The framework for tourist food experience in the present study is built on Kim et al.’s

(2010) framework, Mak et al.’s (2012) differentiation on food consumption and preference, and

the literature on novelty seeking (Chang, Wall, & Chu, 2006; Lee & Crompton, 1992; Weaver et

al., 2009). Kim et al. (2010) tested a framework that stems from food-related personality traits,

satisfaction and loyalty. The present study extends the relationship between food-related

personality traits and satisfaction by including a mediator of actual “consumption” of novel food

at the visited destination (Figure 1). “Food preference”, measured by food-related personality

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traits, and “food consumption” are commonly, and erroneously, undifferentiated (Mak et al.,

2012). In fact, food preference is the inclination to select one food item over another (Rozin &

Vollmecke, 1986), hence an expressed psychological choice between two or more food items

available at a destination (Chang et al., 2010). In contrast, food consumption refers to the

acquisition of a foodstuff and is affected by food preferences and other factors (Randall &

Sanjur, 1981). By focusing on consumption of food, the relationship between food preference

and satisfaction with food is better understood and more logically connected.

The proposed framework also seeks to advance previous studies by adding the

moderating effect of the novelty-seeking travel motive, to establish whether it impacts food

consumption. The literature widely acknowledges that travel motivations critically impact tourist

attitudes and behaviours (Fields, 2002; Weaver et al., 2009), and the moderating role of novelty

seeking on tourist attitudes, perceptions and behaviours has been confirmed (Assaker & Hallak,

2013; Weaver et al., 2009; Wong & Zhao, 2014). Hence, a travel motive for novelty may not

only directly affect the proposed relationships in Figure 1, but may also act as a boundary

condition moderating these relationships. Travel outcome in this research is measured by two

different attributes: word of mouth and revisit intention.

Insert Figure 1 here

Hypothesis Development

Food-related Personality Traits

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The personality trait of food neophobia/philia is regarded as an important influence on

tourist food preferences at a visited destination (Chang, et al., 2010, 2011; Cohen & Avieli,

2004; Kim et al., 2010). A neophobic tendency refers to a natural predisposition for people to

dislike or to be suspicious of new and unfamiliar foodstuffs, whereas a neophilic tendency is the

inclination to seek out unusual and unfamiliar foods (Fischler, 1988). Reluctance to eat and/or to

avoid unfamiliar food serves as a protective function in a potentially hostile food environment.

Whilst both tendencies exist within a person, the inclination to approach or withdraw from

unfamiliar foodstuffs may shift, for instance, depending on the perceived total amount of novelty

in an eating situation and whether the foods contain some element of familiarity (Rozin & Rozin,

1981). Novel foodstuffs with a degree of familiarity may encourage consumption (Rozin &

Rozin, 1981), as may visiting a familiar food provider (Harper & Sanders, 1975). Neophobic

tendencies are affected by an individual’s motivation to seek out new and/or exciting

experiences; thus an adventurous person will generally be more neophilic (Pliner & Hobden,

1992). The opposite shift from neophilic to neophobic tendencies may be attributed to previous

bad experiences with a similar food, for example, through stimulus generalization of a

conditioned taste aversion, with or without the potential for a similar bad experience (Rozin &

Rozin, 1981).

Several studies in tourism and hospitality have considered the effects of neophobia on

tourists’ preferences for food. Cohen and Avieli (2004) found that tourists are often worried

about sampling local food because of unfamiliar or strange ingredients and/or the manner of

preparation. Furthermore, Chang et al. (2010) reported that tourists’ own food culture underpins

neophobic tendency. The food culture defines whether the flavour and cooking methods are

acceptable, hence influencing their food preferences in a tourist destination, in addition to the

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impacts of gender, age and income (Kim et al., 2013) on the relationship between tourists’

neophobia and food preference. Beardsworth and Keil (1997) and Mennell, Murcott and van

Otterloo (1992) also contended that personality traits are engendered by biological and cultural

influences where there are “considerable differences between cultures in the extent to which they

encourage neophilic tendencies” (Cohen & Avieli, 2004, p. 759). Ritchey et al. (2003), applying

a measurement scale for neophobic tendencies developed by Pliner and Hobden (1992),

concluded that cultural variables may play an important role in influencing responses to new

foods. Given the above, the current study controls for the influence of culturally specific

characteristics of neophobic and neophilic tendency by sampling tourists from the same country

of origin.

Existing research, however, has mostly overlooked the component of food consumption

in tourists’ food experience. While personality traits feature as “stable” and “constant” and can

influence food preference (Chang et al., 2011; Mak et al., 2012), food consumption or intake

refers to actual consumption. The causative consequence of consuming a foodstuff cannot be

accounted for totally by personality traits, as food consumption can exist independently of them

(Randall & Sanju, 1981). In a tourism context, such independence can be increased because there

is a substantial change in both the food offering and the environment (Mak et al., 2012; Rozin,

2006). Tourists may consume food that is not their food preference in the home environment. For

example, they may be motivated to try novel food because of their novelty seeking whilst

travelling. Torres (2002) suggests that it is the tourists’ actual consumption that demonstrates the

real demand for food and exerts critical impacts on food supplies in a destination. Therefore,

food consumption should be included in studies of food experiences, especially in the tourism

context. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that:

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H1 (a): Neophobic tendencies negatively affect the consumption of novel food.

H1 (b): Neophilic tendencies positively affect the consumption of novel food.

Food Consumption and Food Satisfaction

Kim et al.’s study (2010), among others, suggests that tourist satisfaction with food is

negatively related to food neophobic tendency. Choosing to eat local cuisine can indeed offer an

additional satisfactory touristic experience. A meal is the point of confluence of food production,

treatment, storage, transport, processing, cooking and preparation, and implies “food choices,

customs, manners and traditions, a political economy context and many psycho-physiological

aspects” of the people eating that meal (Scarpato, 2002, p. 64). As Barthes (1997, p. 23)

contends, a meal represents a “complex and homogeneous dominant feature useful for defining a

general system of tastes and habit”. The amenities surrounding food items are also cultural

symbols coproducing a consistent sense of the particular culture (Finkelstein, 1989).

Furthermore, local food is imbued with an illusion of “locality” and “sincerity”, which opposes

the sense of mass-production - the commercial - and reconnects the lost link between people,

food and place (Feagan, 2007). Hence, eating local food provides an opportunity to engage with

the local living cultures, to see backstage of the tourism “production” and to realise an authentic

experience (Boniface, 2003; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Hjalager & Richards, 2003; Long, 2004;

Pratt, 2007). Through engagement with local foods and food customs, “we satisfy our curiosity

about otherness; we confront the impulse to explore the unknown, to climb the mountain because

it is there” (Long, 2004, p. 22).

When eating local food, tourists can savour unique and memorable gastronomic

experiences, which are often very personal (Finkelstein, 1989; Kivela & Crotts, 2009). However,

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personal experiences of food are often fundamentally influenced by our collective ideological

understanding of, and experiences of, food consumption. Indeed, new meanings may be created

because of the socializing nature of food whereby tourists come into contact with those within

their tours, but also importantly with the local people, whether in shared spaces, such as

restaurants, or during food-related activities, such as visiting local food markets or attending

cookery courses while on holiday. Eating is a fundamental human activity and tourists can easily

be stimulated to discuss and make reference to other foods and cultures, generating more

awareness of self and the local culture (Boniface, 2003). Molz (2007) contends that while

sampling local food, “travellers perform a global body that is flexible, adaptable and literally

open to the world” (p. 7). Based on these arguments about the rich experiences that sampling the

local food could bring to tourists, this study proposes that tourists who eat local, novel food

become more satisfied with their local food experiences, compared to those demonstrating

neophobic tendencies and avoiding novel foods, leading to the following hypotheses:

H2: Novel food consumption is positively related to food satisfaction.

H3: Tourists’ food-related personality traits are related to food satisfaction.

Food Satisfaction and Travel Outcomes

The tourism literature has consistently acknowledged a strong linkage between tourist

satisfaction, destination loyalty, and travel outcomes (Chi & Qu, 2008; Song et al., 2012; Yoon

& Uysal, 2005). The primary premise of the relationship between satisfaction and behaviours

rests on attitude formation theory in that consumer conation is largely impacted by affective

responses such as satisfaction (Dick & Basu, 1994; Oliver, 1993). The cognitive model of

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consumer behaviours further posits that consumer satisfaction leads to attitude change, which in

turn affects their future consumption intentions and behaviours.

The linkage between satisfaction and tourist behavioural outcomes, such as word of

mouth (WOM) and revisit intention, has also been widely reported in the tourism literature (Kim,

2008; Prayag & Ryan, 2012; Rittichainuwat, Qu, & Mongknonvanit, 2002; Song et al., 2012).

Satisfied consumers are more eager to spread positive WOM and patronize a provider across the

service and hospitality industry (Kim, Ng, & Kim, 2009; Wong & Dioko, 2013; Zeithaml, Berry,

& Parasuraman, 1996). Food-related studies have also reported this linkage in various settings

(Han & Ryu, 2009; Kim et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2010).

Consumer psychology literature offers a theoretical rationale for this social phenomenon

in that consumers would approach, and therefore say positive things about, and repatronize, a

provider if they evaluate the service as favourable and are satisfied with it. In contrast, they

would avoid, and therefore curtail staying with, a provider if they evaluated the service to be

unfavourable and were dissatisfied with it (Beverland et al., 2010; Bitner, 1992; Russell &

Mehrabian, 1978). Accordingly, tourists who are satisfied with the food offerings at a destination

would spread positive WOM and revisit the destination. Hence, the following two hypotheses are

proposed:

H4: Food satisfaction is positively related to word of mouth (WOM).

H5: Food satisfaction is positively related to revisit intention.

The Moderating Effect of Novelty Seeking

Tourist motivation is recognized as a “global force” that gives value and direction to

various travel choices and behaviours (Pearce, Morrison, & Rutledge, 1998). Among tourism-

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related motivations, novelty seeking has been reported consistently as “a key motive” in the

tourism context (Lee & Crompton, 1992, p. 733). As Cohen (1972) asserted, it is often the sheer

“strangeness” and “novelty” of other landscapes, lifeways and cultures that satisfy tourists’

desires, and which cannot be satisfied at home. Given the global force of motivation and novelty

as one important constituent of tourist motivations, novelty also exerts such “global” impacts on

tourists’ choices and behaviours in general, and on food choices in particular (Mak et al., 2012),

as tourists who seek novelty are more willing to try new products/services and take risks

(Berlyne, 1966). Thus, the novelty-seeking motivation may modify their predisposed neophobic

tendencies, motivating them to try novel and different food and beverages, which they would not

consume in their ordinary lives (Chang et al., 2011).

However, other researchers (e.g. Chang et al., 2010; Cohen & Avieli, 2004; Quan &

Wang, 2004) believe that while tourists are generally more open to novel food while travelling,

food-specific personality traits can still influence food consumption, arguing that tourists’ food

consumption is an extension of everyday routines and preferences (Quan & Wang, 2004). Chang

et al. (2010) noted when facing diversity in food choices, Chinese tourists’ choices were

primarily consistent with their food culture at home, particularly food habits and preferences.

Based on a study of international tourists to Hong Kong, Tse and Crotts (2005) found that a

cultural group’s propensity for choosing novel food was positively related to their uncertainty

avoidance, with low uncertainty avoidance countries patronizing a greater number and diversity

of culinary offers. Although their study did not directly test the relationship between tourist

home food culture and their food preference at destinations, given that uncertainty avoidance is a

marker of a nation’s socio-cultural characteristics, their study indicates that the food preferences

of tourists demonstrate consistency with their home food cultures.

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It may be argued that tourists are concerned with practical matters of preserving wellness to

sustain an enjoyable experience (Cohen & Avieli, 2004). Even for backpackers who seek to

engage with “authentic” food to adhere to their cosmopolitan identity (Cohen & Avieli, 2004),

their actual food consumption is still limited by the possible negative consequences of a “bad”

meal (e.g. a meal that can make a tourist ill), at the cost of satisfying their desired identity.

Confronted with the divergent views on tourists’ general pursuit of novel experiences and the

effects of personality traits specific to food consumption, the present study seeks to explore the

interactive relationship between them. Hence, it proposes the following hypothesis:

H6: The relationship between food-related personality traits and novel food consumption is

conditioned depending on the travel motive of novelty seeking.

Similarly, as tourists are commonly driven to seek new experiences during their trip

(Chang et al., 2006; Lee & Crompton, 1992; Weaver et al., 2009), they should be more satisfied

with the food offerings if these products fulfil their novelty needs. Therefore, the effect of

personality traits on food satisfaction should be moderated by the novelty-seeking motive.

Accordingly, the study proposes:

H7: The travel motive of novelty seeking moderates the relationship between food-related

personality traits and food satisfaction.

Although the linkage between tourist travel evaluation and travel outcomes has received

much attention, the moderating role of novelty on this relationship remains limited and

inconsistent. Some studies show that novelty seeking has a negative effect on revisit intention,

because high novelty seekers have a higher level of expectation and demand better trip values

(Assaker, Vinzi, & O’Connor, 2011; Niininen, Szivas, & Riley, 2004). Similarly, Castro, Arario,

and Ruiz (2007) showed that tourist satisfaction and revisit intention were not significantly

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related to those who seek new experiences. Yet, others have shown a positive effect of the

novelty-seeking motive on future travel intentions (Jang & Feng, 2007). These inconsistencies in

the findings may be attributed to the time frame associated with future travel decisions (e.g.,

short-, medium- and long-term) as well as the moderating effect of the novelty-seeking motive

(Assaker & Hallak, 2013). In fact, Assaker and Hallak (2013) demonstrated that the moderating

role of the tourist novelty-seeking motive in the relationship between tourist satisfaction and

revisit intention was stronger for low novelty seekers. The work of Wong and Zhao (2014)

further revealed a moderating effect of novelty on the relationship between geographic

convenience and frequency of visit, in that the relationship is only significant for low novelty

seekers. This study seeks to test the moderating effect of novelty seeking on the relationship

between food satisfaction and two travel outcomes, WOM and revisit intention, by proposing:

H8: The travel motive of novelty seeking moderates the relationship between food

satisfaction and travel outcomes (i.e., WOM and destination revisit intention).

METHODS

Sample

In order to test food-related personality traits, as indicated in the literature review, the

population of interest was controlled to the same cultural group, i.e. mainland Chinese tourists.

Despite regional differences in cuisine, and thus in their food preferences, mainland Chinese

tourists have a similar level of exposure to western cuisine, either accumulated through previous

travel experiences or acquired from their home settings (Chang et al., 2010) due to the

availability of the cuisine throughout mainland China (Cohen & Avieli, 2004). On this basis, in

Macau, which is replete with various western cuisines and with a relatively western landscape,

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mainland Chinese tourists tend to perceive the same food items as “novel” or “familiar”. The

present study focusses on mainland Chinese tourists given their leading position in terms of

international travel volume and tourism spend (USD 129 billion) (UNTWO, 2014).

Data were collected using a personally-administered questionnaire, distributed by a group

of researchers, at popular tourist attractions, including Old Taipa Village, Avenida de Almeida

Ribeiro, Coloane and various Casinos in Macau, during April of 2013. To improve randomness,

a systematic sampling method was used, with every third tourist at the site intercepted. The

questionnaire was first developed in English and then translated into Chinese. The Chinese

version was subject to double-translation: being translated into Chinese by two bilinguals and

then translated back into English by another bilingual to ensure consistency of meaning. The

questionnaire was pilot-tested with a sample of 10 tourists in Macau. Results from the pilot test

allowed researchers to refine the wording of the questionnaire. For example, the wording about

“local food” was changed to “local Macanese food” to improve precision and face validity.

The sample comprised 306 completed responses; a response rate of 68%. Of the

respondents, 45.4% were male (54.6% were female); 49.3% held a bachelor’s degree, while

32.7% had only senior high school education; and 52.3% were between the ages of 21 and 30,

while 28.1% were between the ages of 31 and 40. The average length of stay in Macau was 2.24

days.

Measures

The instrument used in this research had both multi-item and single-item scales that were

primarily tailored or generated from existing scales, as these are relatively well developed in

tourism research. The original scales were modified to reflect the specific context of Macau. The

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only exception was the scale of “novel food consumption”, for which the perceived “novel food”

items were determined using an exploratory face-to-face structured interview prior to

questionnaire development (more details are given below).

Tourists’ food-related personality traits were assessed by four, 11-point semantic scale

items ranging from 0 (least preferred) to 10 (most preferred), as shown in Table 1. Although

measurement scales of personality traits are available (Pliner & Hobden, 1992; Ritchey et al.,

2003), the scales are criticized for their dependence on cultural contexts, especially remaining

untested in a non-western context, and focusing on food consumption in home countries. Ritchie

et al.’s (2003) 6-item scale of neophobic tendencies, a subset of the 10-item scale of Pliner and

Hobden (1992), comprises the following 6 elements: (1) “I am constantly sampling new and

different foods”; (2) “If I don’t know what a food is, I won’t try it”; (3) “I like food from

different cultures”; (4) “At dinner parties, I will try new foods”; (5) “I’m afraid to eat things I

have never had before”; (6) “I like to try new ethnic restaurants”. It may therefore be inferred

that if tourists’ choice of food at a destination represents “new” or “different” as opposed to

familiar food from their own food culture, they demonstrate neophilic traits. If their choice of

food represents safe and familiar foods, similar to those from their home country, they are more

likely to be neophobic. Hence, tourists’ choice of food at a destination can be used to infer their

personality traits.

Chang et al.’s (2010) study gives direct insights into mainland Chinese tourists’ patterns

of food choice at tourist destinations. They prefer Chinese food, perceiving it as appetizing and

having a familiar flavour, but they also value the opportunity to try local and new food at the

destination. Thus, mainland Chinese tourists’ choice of familiar food or new/different local food

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represents neophobic and neophilic tendencies respectively. In relation to Macau, this would link

to choice of Chinese cuisine (neophobic) or Macanese cuisine (neophilic).

The four-item, 11-point, semantic measure, based on food preferences in destination, was

validated by randomly splitting the dataset into two sub-samples, followed by exploratory factor

analysis (EFA) and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results suggested a two-factor

solution – Chinese food interest and Macanese interest to represent neophobic and neophilic

tendencies respectively – wherein each had two items. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis

(CFA) suggested that the scale demonstrated adequate convergent validity with each primary

factor loading ≥ .87 and average variance extracted (AVE) ≥ .61 (Table 1). Discriminant validity

was also demonstrated with no secondary factor loading > .30 and the square of the correlation

of each pair of factors being less than the variance extracted for each factor. Cronbach’s alpha

(α) and composite reliability are all above the .70 threshold, suggesting that the scale is

reasonably consistent.

Insert Table 1 here

A novelty-seeking scale was informed by prior studies (e.g., Chang et al., 2006; Lee &

Crompton, 1992), notably, by Lee and Crompton’s (1992) novelty-seeking scale, which features

seeking the “different” and “new” as opposed to the familiar and conventional. After considering

the specific tourism context of Macau, those scale items that refer to adventure tourism activities

in the original scales were removed. Based on the aforementioned interviews, informants

consistently acknowledged the importance of acquiring new knowledge and offerings in their

motivations to travel to Macau. Therefore, three items on tourists’ preference for different and

new destination offerings were adopted (Table 1). The scale was also validated using both EFA

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and CFA. Results demonstrated scale validity (e.g., factor loading ≥ .74 and AVE = .51) and

reliability (α = .74 and composite reliability = .75).

To develop the scale of novel food consumption, face-to-face structured interviews were

also used to derive the items recognised as “novel food” in Macau. A convenience sample of

inbound mainland Chinese tourists were approached at the Macau Border Gate, as it is the most

commonly-used Customs by mainland Chinese tourists from different regions of China. Forty-

two tourists were interviewed, including 20 males and 22 females, from various regions in

mainland China, with an age range from 23 to 65 years, and an income range from below RMB

$1,000 to above RMB $30,000. The interviewees were asked to name and explain foods in

Macau they perceived as novel, with each interview lasting about 5 minutes. The interviews

resulted in six food items perceived as novel: egg tarts, almond cookies, peanut candies, pork

chop buns, woodsaw puddings, and steamed milk syrups (in Plate 1), which were included in the

questionnaire (in Appendix). To create the novel food consumption scale, six dichotomous items

were established (did/did not consume each of the ‘novel’ foods), which were then summed to

form a single item that ranged from 0 to 6, denoting a continuum ranging from no/low level of

consumption to a high level of consumption of these foods. The method of developing this food

consumption scale is a standardized procedure in food and nutrition studies, as applied in

Randall and Sanjur (1981) and Drewnowski and Hann (1999).

It is worth noting that although these novel food items are generally renowned in Macau,

peanut candies were nominated, as they are relatively common throughout China. However, after

probing, interviewees pointed to the pristine, ancient and non-pretentious styles of the candy

stalls, which usually functioned as production sites, as giving originality to the candies. Egg tarts

are also commonly available in China, as a result of their availability in a major fast-food outlet.

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However, interviewees suggested that this had increased consumers’ awareness of Macau and

created geographical attachment to it. To eat egg tarts in Macau is therefore endowed with

symbolic meaning, providing an authentic, hence “different” experience. Other nominated novel

foods were not widely found in mainland China, and so were reasonably nominated as novel

food. The characteristics of these perceived novel foods reflect Quan and Wang’s (2004)

description about novel food experiences that include the ingredients of foods being novel and

enjoyable; the way that food is delivered or consumed being novel; and the “core” as opposed to

“peripheral” ingredients remaining unchanged.

Food satisfaction was assessed by a single item (“I am happy with the food offerings in

Macau”) adopted from Seiders et al. (2005). WOM (“I would say positive things about Macau to

other people”) and revisit intention (”I will visit Macau again in the future”) were evaluated by

single items adopted from Yoon and Uysal (2005). Each of these items was evaluated by a 7-

point Likert scale anchored by 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree).

Data analysis

The data had .1% of missing values, which appeared to be randomly missing, and thus

were imputed by the means. Prior to hypothesis testing, the presence of common method bias

was tested based on the Harman one-factor test, and multicollinearity through analysis of

variance inflation factors. Tourists’ gender, education, and age were controlled for when testing

the mediating and dependent variables in that these variables were included in the model as

independent variables. Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations were conducted, and a

path analysis carried out in LISREL 8.8. The mediating effect of novel food interest and food

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satisfaction were tested using the mediation procedure recommended by Baron and Kenny

(1986).

FINDINGS

Evaluation of data prior to hypothesis testing showed that common method bias was not a

concern (χ2/df = 4.3), and that multicollinearity was not a limitation as all the variance inflation

factors were less than 2.0. Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations are shown in Table

2, with a strong correlation between WOM and novelty seeking (r = .39, p < .001).

Insert Table 2 here

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Results shown in Table 3 reveal that tourists’ neophobic tendency is negatively correlated

with novel food consumption (β = -.17, p < .01), while tourist neophilic tendency is positively

correlated with novel food consumption (β = .17, p < .01), supporting hypotheses 1(a) and 1(b).

Hypothesis 2 is also supported because there is a significant positive effect of novel food

consumption on satisfaction with food (β = .14, p < .01). Further, Hypothesis 3 is supported in

that tourists’ neophobic tendency (β = .12, p < .05) and tourists’ neophilic tendency (β = .19, p

< .01) are positively correlated with food satisfaction, with tourists who demonstrated neophilic

tendencies in choosing novel food experiencing higher levels of satisfaction than their neophobic

counterparts. Testing the mediating effect of novel food consumption using Baron and Kenny’s

(1986) procedure and the Sobel test suggested that novel food consumption partially mediated

the relationship between the two food-related personality traits and food satisfaction (Sobel test:

Z ≥ 1.91, p < .10).

20

Hypotheses 4 and 5 postulated a direct positive effect of food satisfaction on tourist

WOM and revisit intention. The results support these two hypotheses in that the relationship of

food satisfaction with WOM (β = .31, p < .001) and revisit intention (β = .38, p < .001) were all

significant. Furthermore, none of the control variables were significant, except for education,

which showed that better-educated tourists (β = .16, p < .01) were significantly more likely to

spread positive WOM. Examining the mediating effect of food satisfaction showed that food

satisfaction fully mediated the relationships between food-related personality traits and novel

food consumption, and the three travel outcome variables (Sobel test: Z ≥ 1.86, p < .10). The

study further tested the indirect effects of the two food-related personality traits and novel food

consumption on WOM and revisit intention in LISREL. The results indicated that neophilic

tendency and novel food consumption exert significant indirect effects on the three dependent

variables (β ≥ .02, p < .05; see Table 4).

Insert Tables 3 and 4 here

Prior to testing for moderating effects, data were tested to ensure they met analytical

requirements. In summary, the data fitted the proposed Model 2 adequately well: comparative fit

index (CFI) = .99, goodness of fit index (GFI) = .99, root mean square error of approximation

(RMSEA) = .02, and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .02 (see Table 4). The

model accounted for between 8% to 22% variance of the dependent measures.

21

Hypotheses 6, 7, and 8 postulated a moderating effect of the novelty-seeking motive on

the chain of relationships from food-related personality traits to travel outcomes. Results (Table

4) indicate that although novelty seeking is positively related to novel food consumption (β

= .14, p < .05), its moderating effect on this variable is insignificant, thus failing to support

Hypothesis 6. Novelty seeking (β = .20, p < .01) and its interaction with neophilic tendency (β =

-.14, p < .05) were significantly related to food satisfaction, but its interaction with neophobic

tendency was not significant, thus partially supporting Hypothesis 7. To illustrate the moderating

effect graphically, the study followed Aiken and West (1991) and divided the moderator into

plus and minus one standard deviation from the mean. As Figure 2 depicts, high novelty seekers

scored higher in food satisfaction regardless of their personality traits, which may be attributed to

low novelty seekers possibly having lower expectations of food and hence being more satisfied

when novel food meets or exceeds their expectations. Figure 2 further demonstrates that the

interaction effect of neophilic tendency and travel motivation on food satisfaction is more salient

for low novelty seekers. Results related to Hypothesis 8 revealed that novelty seeking was

positively related to word of mouth (WOM) (β = .36, p < .001) and revisit intention (β = .19, p

< .05). However, none of the moderating effects are significant; thus, the results fail to support

the hypothesis.

Insert Figures 2 here

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Given the economic and socio-cultural impacts of tourists’ food consumption on

destinations and the prevailing “obligatory” nature of consuming food, this study contributes to

understanding of how tourists’ food consumption interacts with their novelty-seeking travel

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motivation, food-related personality traits, satisfaction and travel outcomes. It offers four major

contributions to the literature on tourists’ food consumption.

Firstly, tourists’ actual food consumption does not depend on their novelty-seeking travel

motivation but on their personality traits with neophobic food tendencies exerting negative

influence on the consumption of novel food. This result confirms the “supporting” components

of tourists’ food experience and the need for food consumption to be viewed mostly as an

extension or intensification of the ontological comfort of home (Quan & Wang, 2004). It also

supports the beliefs that tourists’ actual choice of food can be related to their home food culture,

conventions and habits (Chang et al., 2010) and conventional risk aversion in relation to food

(Tse & Crotts, 2005). An array of practical concerns can over-ride the pursuit of novelty, such as

avoiding potentially contaminated food that may lead to illness (Cohen & Avieli, 2004).

Although sampling the novel food of a destination is projected to enrich tourists’ cultural

experiences (Boniface, 2003; Long, 2004), when choosing food to satisfy basic human needs,

this potentially “peak experience” (Quan & Wang, 2004) does not appear significant. As such, it

provides a different outcome to those who have proposed the influence of novelty seeking on

food consumption (e.g. Mak et al., 2012). Although novelty seeking as an important component

of travel motivations is supposed to exert the “global influence” on tourists’ various behaviours

(Lee & Crompton, 1992; Pearce et al., 1998), its influence on consumption of food seems to be

exempted.

Secondly, the partially mediating role of food consumption between food personality

traits and food satisfaction demonstrates that both personality traits and food consumption can

predict tourists’ satisfaction with food. This result is different from the existing popular belief

that food consumption should be independent from tourists’ psychological preferences and

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personality traits (Mak et al., 2012; Randall & Sanju, 1981). Furthermore, by including the

construct of food consumption, the present study suggests a positive relationship between

neophobic/philic tendencies and satisfaction with food consumption, with those who demonstrate

neophilic tendencies achieving a higher level of satisfaction. This indicates that tourists should

have a satisfactory experience with food offerings, as long as they are satisfied with their choice,

regardless of their food-related personality traits. This result should be differentiated from Kim et

al.’s (2010) result that concluded a negative impact of neophobia on food satisfaction. The

difference could be that their model was built on a direct prediction of food-related personality

traits on satisfaction and disregarded tourists’ actual consumption of the food.

Thirdly, although novelty does not moderate the relationship between food-related

personality traits and novel food consumption, it moderates the effect of neophilic tendencies and

food satisfaction in that the effect is more salient for tourists who pursue a lower level of travel

novelty. That is, the relationship between personality traits and satisfaction is not linear but

contingent upon a tourist’s novelty seeking travel motivation. The findings may be explained by

expectation-disconfirmation theory, which suggests that satisfaction is a function of people’s

expectations and disconfirmation (whether positive or negative) of their prior beliefs. Hence,

tourists with low novelty-seeking travel motives may have a low expectation of novel food, and

are then more likely to be satisfied after trying new cuisines, driven by their neophilic

tendencies.

Fourthly, this study tests and confirms the roles of food on travel outcomes, which are led

by tourists’ food-related personality traits and novel food consumption. Food consumption,

despite being only a single component of tourists’ overall destination activity, can influence

tourists’ future revisit intentions and recommendations for the destination. This finding confirms

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a number of studies, mostly theoretical or qualitative, that suggest the linkage between food

experience and travel outcome extends to destination level (Hjalager & Richards, 2003; Kim et

al., 2010; Kivela & Crotts, 2009). From a broader theoretical perspective, this study advocates

that studies on food consumption should take a broader perspective by connecting food

consumption with other tourist activities and general motivations. After all, tourist food

consumption is one form of consumption in one’s overall destination experience (Henderson,

2009). Only through placing food consumption among other tourism activities can researchers

identify the unique influences of tourists’ food consumption.

From a practical perspective, as the study identifies that tourists’ food-related personality

traits determine their food consumption, it is important for a destination to understand tourists’

food culture and to provide food that is congruous with the tourists’ food habits and customs.

Alternatively the destination could identify similarities between food types to give a perception

of some familiarity, thus reducing tourists’ fear of the new food. However, as novelty still

mediates tourist satisfaction with food, the destination’s food providers, together with other

tourism sectors, should also pay attention to novelty while providing somewhat familiar foods. In

addition, this study confirms the promising impacts of local distinctive food in predicting

tourists’ revisit intention and referral behaviour.

The study limitations offer possible avenues for future research. The results are generated

from general tourist profiles, which may not be applicable to food tourists, although the former

are likely to make up a larger group. This study was conducted at a single destination, which

limits its generalizability to other destinations. Therefore, future research could test the results in

diverse cultural backgrounds and adopt multi-item measures to improve scale validity. In

addition, tourists’ neophilic and neophobic tendencies vary in different contexts, and their

25

consumption of food should be viewed in a dynamic way. This indicates another further research

area regarding relevant stimuli to increase tourists’ neophilic tendencies.

26

REFERENCES

27

Table 1. Scale Items for General Food Interest and Novelty Seeking Scale Item Pattern

Coefficientγ Cronbach’s

AlphaComposite Reliability

AVE

Food-Related Personal TraitsNeophilic Tendency 2.06 .80 .77 .63Preference for new foods such as Macanese food .94Preference for new foods such as local

Macanese food.88

Neophobic Tendency 1.19 .72 .75 .61Preference for Cantonese food .87Preference for other Chinese food .90

Fit index: CFI = 1.00, GFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .00, SRMR = .02. Total variance explained = 65.51%.

Novelty Seeking 1.99 .74 .75 .51To learn different culture .85To try different food .74To seek new destination offerings .85

Fit index: CFI = 1.00, GFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .00, SRMR = .00. Total variance explained = 66.21%.Note: γ = eigenvalue. AVE = average variance extracted.

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations between Food-related Personality Traits, Food Satisfaction, Novelty Seeking and Travel Outcomes

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 61. Neophobic tendency 6.00 2.062. Neophilic tendency 7.11 1.84 .27***3. Novel food consumptiona 3.17 1.56 -.08 .09†4. Food satisfaction 5.63 1.07 .16** .23*** .16**5. WOM 5.72 .98 .13* .15** .00 .32***6. Revisit intention 5.96 1.04 .11* .08 .06 .36*** .46***7. Novelty seeking 5.53 .98 .01† .06 .10† .19*** .39*** .16**Note: † p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.Scales 1 and 2 range from 0 (least interested) – 10 (most interested).Scales 4, 5, 6, and 8 range from 1 (strongly disagree) – 7 (strongly agree).a. An summated score of the six dichotomous specific Novel food consumption items.

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Table 3. Results of Direct Effect Estimates (Model 1)Novel Food

ConsumptionFood

SatisfactionWOM Revisit

IntentionControl variables

Gender .11* .01 .03 -.02Education -.11* .00 .16** .00Age -.08 .06 -.01 -.04

Main effectsNeophobic tendency -.17** .12*Neophilic tendency .17** .19**Novel food consumption .14*Food satisfaction .31*** .38***

R2 .06 .08 .13 .15Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.Path estimates are standardized.Model fit: χ2/df = .85, CFI = 1.00, GFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .0.01, SRMR = .02.

Table 4. Results of Direct, Indirect, and Moderating Effect Estimates (Model 2)Novel Food

ConsumptionFood

SatisfactionWOM Revisit

IntentionControl variables

Gender .10† .00 .00 -.04Education -.14* -.03 .10* -.03Age -.08 .07 .00 -.04

Main effectsNeophobic tendency -.18** .11* (.03) (.03)Neophilic tendency .18** .21** (.05**) (.07**)Novel food consumption .12* (.06**) (.06**)Food satisfaction .26*** .36***

Moderating effectsNovelty seeking .14* .20** .36*** .19*Neophobic tendency × novelty seeking .00 -.05Neophilic tendency × novelty seeking -.02 -.14*Food satisfaction × novelty seeking -.03 .03

R2 .08 .12 .22 .16∆R2 .02 .04 .09 .01Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.Path estimates are standardized.Value in (parentheses) are indirect effects.Model fit: χ2/df = 1.17, CFI = .99, GFI = .99, RMSEA = .02, SRMR = .02.

Figure 1. Research Framework of Tourist Experience with Food

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Note: Control variables on the mediating and dependent variables include gender, age, and education.

Figure 2. Neophilic Tendency × Travel Motivation Interaction on Food Satisfaction Macau

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Food-Related Personal TraitsNeophilic tendencyNeophobic tendency

Novel Food Consumption

WOM

Food Satisfaction

H3

H4

H1H2

Revisit IntentionH5

Travel OutcomesNovelty Seeking

H7

H8

H6

Plate 1.Foods from Macau Perceived as Novel

(Note: From left to right and from top to bottom: egg tarts, almond cookies, peanut candies, pork chop buns, woodsaw puddings, and steamed milk syrups)

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Appendix. Questionnaire

Please rate your agreement of the following statements about your travel motivations to Macau:1 (Strong disagree) -------- 7 (Strong agree)

To learn different culture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7To try different food 1 2 3 4 5 6 7To seek new destination offerings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Please rate your level of interest about the following offerings:0 (least preferred) ---- 10 (most preferred)

New food such as Local Macanese food 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10New food such as Portuguese food 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Cantonese food 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Other Chinese food 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please check the following items that you have experienced in Macau:□ Egg tarts □ Almond cookies□ Peanut candies □ Pork chop buns□ Woodsaw puddings □ Steamed milk syrups

Please rate your agreement of the following statements about your trip to Macau:1 (Strong disagree) -------- 7 (Strong agree)

I am happy with the food offerings in Macau 1 2 3 4 5 6 7I will visit Macau again in the future 1 2 3 4 5 6 7I would say positive things about Macau to other people

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Please circle the appropriate answer: Length of stay 1) 1

day2) 2 day

3) 3 day

4) 4 day

5) 5 day 6) 6 day

7) 7 day

8) > 7 day

Gender 1) Male 2) FemalePlace of OriginEducation Level

1) No education 2) Primary school

3) Middle school 4) High school

5) Vocational education

6) Bachelor 7) Master 8) Doctoral

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