INFLUENCING PATHS OF TOURIST FOOD INVOLVEMENT ON BEHAVIORAL INTENTION
YU Feng-long1,2,3, PAN Wei1, HOU Bing1,2,3
1. School of Tourism and Cuisine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China; 2. Institute of YangtzeRiver Cultural Research, Yangzhou 225009, China; 3. Key Laboratory of Chinese Cuisine Intangible Cultural Heritage Technology Inheritance, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Yangzhou 225127, China
Abstract：In the context of tourism, food consumption has become a prominent topic of social concern and a key focus in international tourism research. However, compared with traditional food culture and contemporary food practice, the breadth and depth of food tourism research in China urgently need to be strengthened. Tourists' food involvement reflects their psychological state and level of engagement in food-related decisions and activities, offering a crucial perspective for studying tourists' food consumption behavior. Drawing on domestic and international research, this article integrates offline and online survey data to construct and interpret the structural characteristics of tourists' food involvement, as well as its impact pathways on behavioral intentions. The results indicate that tourists' food involvement consists of six dimensions: attractiveness, centrality, social bonds, symbolism, risk possibility, and risk consequences. These dimensions significantly influence consumer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, although their impacts vary across dimensions. The structural content and impact pathways of tourists' food involvement highlight the complexity of food consumption psychology and the evolving nature of value orientation. Tourists' perceptions of food and the values they attribute to it influence their level of involvement, which is moderated by the food consumption context at tourist destinations.
