Gastronomic motivations, attitude toward local food, and revisit intention: A S.O.R. analysis of foreign tourists in Peru

Rivera-Ramirez B.; Tirado-Lecca K.; Lodeiros-Zubiria M.-L. · International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgfs.2026.101647

Resumen

This study aims to test a stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model of gastronomic tourism in Lima, Peru, a destination of recognised gastrodiplomatic significance. The model positions gastronomic motivations and the in-situ gastronomic experience as stimuli, attitude toward local food and experiential value as organism states, and revisit intention and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) as behavioural responses. The model is estimated using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4 on a sample of 350 foreign tourists, with non-probability quota sampling benchmarked on official inbound-tourist statistics. Six of seven hypothesised paths are supported; the model shows acceptable fit. Attitude toward local food is the strongest predictor of revisit intention. Pre-arrival motivations exert a substantially larger direct effect on attitude than the in-situ experience, evidencing asymmetric stimulus effects. Experiential value drives eWOM, but eWOM does not directly predict revisit intention, qualifying the assumption that digital advocacy converts directly into return-visit behaviour. The study contributes by testing the SOR framework in a major Latin-American culinary destination, evidencing asymmetric stimulus effects, and identifying attitude toward local food as the primary managerial lever for foreign tourist loyalty in food-tourism contexts shaped by deliberate national gastrodiplomacy.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas