Impact of Culinary Destination and Service Performance: Expectation Confirmations, Satisfaction, Trust, and Consumer Revisit Intention

Abstract

Purpose- The dissertation addresses a critical gap in understanding post-dining consumer behavior within a culinary tourism destination at the BLVD RUH CITY destination. It explores how visitors' perceptions of food consumption value, specifically price, taste/quality, interaction, prestige, emotional, and epistemic, influence their perception of the culinary destination's image and their evaluations of restaurant service performance in the culinary destination. The study further examines how these evaluations affect expectation confirmation, influencing key post-dining outcomes, including satisfaction, trust, and revisit intention. Design/Methodology- The study employs an empirical research design supported by a causal-explanatory framework. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using a two-step covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) approach. The first phase involved confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the measurement model, followed by CB-SEM to test the hypothesized structural relationships. The research model is grounded in the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV), Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT), and the trust component of Commitment-Trust Theory (CTT). Demographic variables were included as control variables to obtain more nuanced insights into visitor behavior. Findings- The study revealed that epistemic value and taste/quality value positively influenced the image of a culinary tourism destination, while emotional, interaction, price, and prestige values did not significantly affect image formation. However, price, taste/quality value, epistemic, and emotional influences had a positive impact on evaluations of service performance. The image of a culinary tourism destination and service performance significantly affected expectation confirmation, which subsequently influenced satisfaction and trust. Ultimately, satisfaction and trust were recognized as crucial predictors of the intention to revisit, confirming the interconnected roles of these concepts in shaping post-dining loyalty in culinary tourism. Practical Implications- The findings offer targeted guidance for restaurant managers, destination marketers, and tourism planners by identifying the food-related values that influence visitor perceptions, service evaluations of restaurants, and behavioral outcomes. Emphasizing taste/quality, as well as epistemic value, can effectively shape a strong destination image, while taste/quality, price, epistemic value, and emotional value can enhance perceptions of restaurant service. Aligning the actual dining experience with visitors’ expectations encourages expectation confirmation, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty. The study’s model provides a framework for improving culinary tourism experiences through better service design, enhanced expectation confirmation, and consistent quality delivery across touchpoints in the destination. Originality/Value- This study is among the first to synthesize three established theories (TCV, ECT, and CTT) into a single, empirically tested model, offering a novel conceptual contribution to marketing, consumer behavior, tourism, and hospitality. It enhances the theoretical literature's understanding of how food-related consumption values, the image of a culinary tourism destination, perceived restaurant service performance, expectation confirmation, satisfaction, and trust interact to shape revisit intention. Furthermore, it enhances empirical research in the underexplored Middle Eastern context by validating this research model in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the BLVD RUH City destination, thereby strengthening the cross-cultural applicability of consumer behavior frameworks.