TY  - JOUR
A1  - Babolian Hendijani, Roozbeh
A1  - Jaszus, Kathrin
T1  - The rise of virtual food tourism experiences: Integrating diffusion of innovation theory and self-determination theory
T2  - Tourism and Hospitality Management
N2  - Purpose – The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the food tourism industry, leading to business closures and a drop in demand. In response to this challenge, virtual food tourism experiences such as VR have emerged as an alternative to traditional in-person experiences. Aim of this paper is to model consumer adoption of virtual food tourism by integrating the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Self-determination Theory.

Methodology/Design/Approach – The Diffusion of Innovation Theory explains the process of innovation adoption, while the Self-determination Theory focuses on consumer motivation. This article proposes that intrinsic (autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and extrinsic (relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, and observability) motivating factors influence virtual food tourism adoption.

Findings – The study suggests that extrinsic motivators can act as mediators between intrinsic motivation and adoption intention. Integrating these two theories provides a comprehensive understanding of the motivations and mechanisms driving virtual food tourism adoption. It also paves the way for the exploration of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and specific mechanisms underlying adoption behaviours.

Originality of the research – Destinations, businesses, and policy makers can better navigate the changing landscape of food tourism and leverage the potential of virtual food tourism to create engaging, accessible, and culturally enriching experiences.
KW  - Lebensmittel
KW  - Tourismus
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - Virtuelle Realität
KW  - Motiviationstheorie
KW  - Virtual Reality
KW  - Post COVID-19
KW  - Online Food Experience
KW  - Self-determination Theory
KW  - Diffusion of Innovation Theory
Y1  - 2024
UR  - https://hst.opus.hbz-nrw.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/982
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:tr5-9829
VL  - 30
IS  - 2
SP  - 249
EP  - 258
ER  -