Master's thesis tourism and Local Food and Beverages

2.6 Extracted components: 
Table 2-2: Theoretical Table 
Through the vast research and studies conducted by the previous researchers, the following 
components were extracted that could be used as the items for the interview design. They are 
categorized within the following dimensions: 

Dimension 1) authenticity factors: 
a) 
Authenticity connotes traditional culture and origin, a sense of the 
genuine, the real or the unique. 
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Chapter 2. Literature Review 

Dimension 2) interpersonal factors: 
a) Interpersonal motivators relate to a desire to meet new people, spend time with family 
and friends or relatives or get away from routine relationships in the context of 
traditional and special occasions. 
b) Central role of food in many basic social rituals and communicational patterns within 
familiar and other groups. 

Dimension 3) cultural factors: 
a) Evaluation of heritage features of traditional food and cuisine. 
b) Learning knowledge, link to foreign cultures for visitors with cultural backgrounds 
different from that of the hosts. 
c) Interface between culture and eating behavior. 
d) Culture is a major determinant of what we eat. 
e) Food carries symbolic meaning. 

Dimension 4): physiological factors 
4.1 Food neophobia: 
a) Reluctance to eat and/or avoidance. 
b) Local food might not be an attraction to many tourists because they are afraid 
of experimenting novel foods and ingesting something strange. 
4-2 Food neophilia: 
a) Food neophilia may be associated with possessing a different taste physiology 
which enables individuals to experience food with more pleasure. 

Dimension 5): prestige related factors: 
Travels away from home might be in search of local delicacies upon their return 
which could boost their esteem and prestige. 

Dimension 6): Demographic factor: 
a) Family lifecycle variable: age, marital status, number of dependent children. 
b) Social class variables: occupation and education level. 
c) Cultural and geographical variables: race, region and location of residence. 
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Chapter 2. Literature Review 
2.7 Conclusion: 
This chapter reviewed theoretical bases for explaining food tourism. The literature on 
globalization, cultural capital and social differentiation theory was followed by a review of 
literature on tourism focused on food with the objective of answering the research questions 
formulated in chapter part one. 
Finally, previous empirical studies related to food 
consumption were explored. 
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Chapter 3. Methodology