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This chapter explores the gourmet tourist as a food tourist profile that seeks a fine dining experience in the context of ‘experiential luxury’. The growing role of luxury experiences in gastronomic tourism has positioned luxury restaurants as culinary ambassadors that influence food tourist behaviour. Based on the case of four Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen (Denmark), results show that the gourmet tourist food experiences as seen by the restaurateurs are driven by three factors. Firstly, the source of the product and the stories behind the product. Secondly, the gourmet experience as a learning process. Thirdly, the memories embedded in the fine dining experience which rely both on people (the staff) and practices (the singularity).

The purpose of this study is to hypothesize that tailored multimedia interventions using the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Behavior Change Techniques via social media platforms have the potential to effectively disseminate scientific information regarding food sustainability to food professionals. The objective is to evaluate the extent of the influence of these interventions on social media in enhancing the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of food professionals about food sustainability, with a specific focus on next-generation professional chefs.

A total of 121 students majoring in gastronomy and culinary arts volunteered to participate in the study. A 5-min multimedia intervention was explicitly tailored for their backgrounds and designed for social media platforms. It covered food sustainability topics and related factors using a diverse range of multimedia elements, such as video, still images, text and audio narration. Furthermore, researchers developed a validated questionnaire that covered the same topics as the multimedia intervention. In a quasi-experimental design, participants were administered the questionnaire both before and after watching the tailored multimedia intervention.

The results of this study revealed significant improvements in participants’ knowledge and attitudes of key concepts, including greenhouse gases and their relation to climate change, climate change and meat-based menu items relation, inequality in the distribution of natural resources, primary sources of food loss, the significance of implementing new technology in agricultural activities and the role of the next generation. The multimedia shifted participants’ attitudes, prioritizing climate change as the most critical and strengthening the perception of local food production as the least critical factors. Moreover, it strengthened participants’ attitudes toward the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as the primary actor in sustainability.

Although culinary students may be seen as a subset of a targeted food professional group, they are the future leaders of the global food system. Chefs have substantial influences in a broad range of settings and sectors, including institutional food service, chain restaurants, the food and beverage industry and home cooking via books and television programs, among others. Chefs increasingly adopt sustainable menus and business practices to promote sustainable food systems and reduce climate change associated with the food sector. In addition, they use their community power to advocate for legislation that promotes the long-term sustainability of food systems.

Chefs and restaurant owners can use the results to tailor multimedia about food sustainability topics for their staff training programs and daily sharing on their social media platforms. Government organizations and policymakers can use the results to develop effective communication plans with food professionals. Non-governmental organizations dedicated to the environment and food sustainability can tailor multimedia campaigns on social media that address the food professionals directly to encourage them to adopt sustainable practices. Professional teams producing content on social media platforms can use the results to create engaging and informative scientific multimedia interventions targeting food professionals.

In a broader societal context, enhancing the scientific knowledge, attitudes and behavior of the professional chefs toward food sustainability will, in turn, lead to widespread adaptation of sustainable practices, not only within their professional domains but also in wider community settings. This will significantly contribute to the major goal of advancing food sustainability and addressing global challenges like food inequality and food insecurity.

The impact of various variables and the roles of different food sectors and their actors in food sustainability have been extensively studied. Furthermore, a wide range of research has examined diverse consumer groups’ food sustainability knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. However, developing an effective method for communicating and advocating scientific facts about food sustainability-related topics has been a challenge. Traditional environmental education is insufficient for fostering sustainable change. As social media are the fastest-growing science communication tool, this pioneering research suggests multimedia interventions on social media to improve food professionals’ food sustainability knowledge, attitudes and behaviors to fill the literature gap.

This study aimed to improve understanding of the phenomenon of food well-being (FWB) (conceptualization, measurement, antecedents and outcomes) so as to lead future empirical work on measurement, development and theory testing. The hope is to improve the societal benefits of FWB and sustainable food system transformation.

A domain-based systematic review of FWB was conducted using databases (Web of Science, ABI/INFORM, EBSCO and Scopus). The well-established theory, context, characteristics and methodology framework were used to structure the review.

This study synthesized conceptual definitions and measurements of consumer FWB from hedonic, eudemonistic and mixed research streams and a nomological network that distinguishes this construct from its antecedents and outcomes.

This study provides recommendations for consumers, food designers, retailers and policymakers to improve FWB.

This study assessed the conceptualizations of FWB from hedonic, eudemonistic and mixed perspectives for conceptual clarity. It summarized ten measurement tools for FWB-allied concepts (Well-being Related to Food Questionnaires, Satisfaction with Food-Related Life Scale and World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index), which revealed the need for novel measurement. This study developed a holistic nomological network of FWB by identifying the categories of antecedents (food-related, consumer-related and contextual factors) and outcomes (general well-being, life satisfaction and food consumption). This study provides a research agenda for FWB measurement and theoretical development.

This study aims to develop a conceptual model of positive employee experience using sentiment analysis within algorithm-based human resource (HR) strategies. Its goal is to enhance HR professionals’ understanding of employee experiences and enable data-driven decision-making to create a positive work environment, thereby contributing to the originality of HR research.

The study conducts sentiment analysis – a text mining technique – to assess employee reviews and extract distinct positive experience factors. The employed data-driven methodology serves to fortify the reliability and objectivity of the analysis, ultimately resulting in a more refined depiction of the conveyed sentiment.

Utilizing sentiment analysis, the authors identified 135 keywords that signify positive employee experiences. These keywords were then categorized into four clusters aligned with factors influencing employee experience: work, relationships, organizational system and organizational culture, employing an inductive approach. The framework outlines the process of nurturing positive employee experiences throughout the employee life cycle, incorporating insights from the affective events theory and cognitive appraisal theory.

Data-driven insights empower HR professionals to enhance employee satisfaction, engagement and productivity. HR managers implementing AI-assisted HR ecosystems need digital and data science skills. Additionally, these insights can offer practical support in accentuating diversity and ethical considerations within the organizational culture. Candid employee data can enhance leadership and support diversity in organizational culture. Managers play a crucial communication role, ensuring flexible access to personalized HR solutions.

Applying sentiment analysis through opinion mining allows for the collection of unstructured data, reflecting authentic employee perceptions. This innovative approach expedites issue identification and targeted actions, enhancing employee satisfaction. Textual reviews, integral to employee feedback, offer comprehensive insights. Additionally, considering subjectivity and review length in online employee reviews adds value to understanding experiences (Zhao et al., 2019). This study surpasses prior research by directly identifying key factors of employee experience through the analysis of actual employee review texts, addressing a gap in understanding beyond previous attempts.

This paper aims to analyse the effect of vision, hearing and haptics on tourism metaverse previews and pre-experiences and compares the effects of metaverse previews and pre-experiences on the intention to visit.

A sample of 172 individuals answered an online survey about their previous interaction with the tourism metaverse – 104 had tourism metaverse previews, and 68 had tourism metaverse pre-experiences. Then, a case study of a tourism metaverse pre-experience was analysed to strengthen and further understand the quantitative study.

While vision and hearing are significant in tourism metaverse previews, only vision and haptics contribute to obtaining a sense of presence in tourism metaverse pre-experiences, although the potential of hearing. Tourism metaverse pre-experiences have a stronger positive impact on the intention to visit the destination than tourism metaverse previews.

Practitioners should integrate the sense of haptics in the metaverse pre-experiences, despite the costs involved, because the immersive sense of presence has stronger effects on visit intentions than metaverse previews. However, the dependence on sensorial stimuli and the effect on tourism growth may limit the advantages of metaverse as an alternative for impaired tourists and to reduce overtourism.

This paper clarifies the different effects that each sensory stimulus has in the sense of presence, depending on different levels of immersiveness, requiring congruence. The value of metaverse pre-experiences is highlighted with the evidence of strengthening the intention to visit.

本文分析视觉、听觉和触觉对旅游元宇宙预览和预体验的影响, 并比较元宇宙预览和预体验对访问意愿的影响。

172人样本回答了关于他们之前与旅游元宇宙互动的在线调查 - 104人有过旅游元宇宙预览, 68人有过旅游元宇宙预体验。然后, 研究分析了旅游元宇宙预体验的一个案例, 以加强和进一步理解定量研究。

虽然所分析的三种感官刺激在旅游元宇宙预览中很重要, 但只有视觉和触觉有助于在旅游元宇宙预体验中获得存在感, 尽管听觉也具有潜力。旅游元宇宙预体验对访问目的地的意愿有比旅游元宇宙预览更强的积极影响。

本文阐明了每种感官刺激对临场感的不同影响, 并发现这些影响取决于不同的沉浸感水平和一致性。由于元宇宙预体验可以加强访问意愿, 其价值也得以凸显。

尽管成本较高, 但从业者应该将触觉融入元宇宙预体验中, 因为沉浸式临场感对访问意愿的影响比元宇宙预览更大。然而, 对感官刺激的依赖和对旅游业增长的影响可能会限制元宇宙作为残障游客的替代方案和减少过度旅游的优势。

Este artículo analiza el efecto de la visión, la audición y el tacto en las previsualizaciones y pre-experiencias de metaversos turísticos y compara los efectos de las previsualizaciones y pre-experiencias de metaversos en la intención de visita.

Una muestra de 172 personas respondió a una encuesta online sobre su interacción previa con el metaverso turístico: 104 habían tenido previsualizaciones del metaverso turístico y 68 habían tenido pre-experiencias del metaverso turístico. A continuación, se analizó un estudio de caso de una pre-experiencia de metaverso turístico para reforzar y comprender mejor el estudio cuantitativo.

Aunque los tres estímulos sensoriales analizados son significativos en las previsualizaciones de metaversos turísticos, sólo la visión y el tacto contribuyen a obtener una sensación de presencia en las pre-experiencias de metaversos turísticos, a pesar del potencial de la audición. Las pre-experiencias en el metaverso turístico tienen un mayor impacto positivo en la intención de visitar el destino que las previsualizaciones en el metaverso turístico.

Los profesionales deberían integrar el sentido del tacto en las pre-experiencias del metaverso, a pesar de los costes que ello implica, porque la sensación inmersiva de presencia tiene efectos más fuertes en las intenciones de visita que las previsualizaciones metaverso. Sin embargo, la dependencia de los estímulos sensoriales y el efecto sobre el crecimiento del turismo pueden limitar las ventajas de los metaversos como alternativa para los turistas discapacitados y para reducir la sobreexplotación turística.

Este artículo explica los diferentes efectos que cada estímulo sensorial tiene en la sensación de presencia, dependiendo de los distintos niveles de inmersión, requiriendo congruencia. Se destaca el valour de las pre-experiencias en el metaverso con la evidencia de que refuerzan la intención de visita.

This paper aims to examine the image realism effect, studying how changing the front-of-package visual affects the acceptance of an insect-based food by consumers. By comparing reactions to realistic and less realistic images of an insect as an ingredient, this research investigated how visual imagery can affect consumers’ responses, reducing perceived disgust or increasing expected taste.

Three experiments studied the impact of realistic (photo) versus less realistic (drawing) images for two types of insects (mealworm, cricket) on consumers’ psychological distance from the image, perceived disgust, expected taste, willingness to eat, purchase intention and food choice.

Study 1 demonstrates that using a less realistic insect image reduces perceived disgust, with psychological distance from this image and perceived disgust mediating realism effect on willingness to eat. Study 2 shows that a less realistic insect image, perceived as more remote, improves expected taste and willingness to eat. Study 3 confirms the results by measuring behavior: consumers were more likely to choose the product with the less realistic image.

The research focused on one kind of product and two ways of depicting this product, limiting the generalizability of the findings for other visual representations and product categories.

The findings suggest how brand managers can use the image realism effect on the packaging of novel, sustainable products to influence consumers, reducing their disgust and increasing their expected taste.

This research breaks new ground by explaining how visual cues on packaging affect the acceptance of insect-eating, drawing on construal level theory.

Agriculture emerges as a prerequisite for food tourism, and landscapes and lifestyles portray the traditions of rural people, places, and practices. This chapter explores the rural food tourist as a type of tourist who appreciates and values the authenticity and identity of food and beverage products based on their origin. The chapter analyses the relation between online marketing and the cheese tourist. Social media is increasingly regarded as a source of tourism information, and its use as a communication and marketing tool is crucial both at business and destination levels. In this sense, the digital presence of rural assets such as food is a significant way to promote destination identity to tourists. This chapter reviews the digital presence of 28 Spanish cheeses with Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PDI) labels. The chapter explores digital content as a source of information and knowledge for the rural food tourist.

The recruitment and promotion of teaching academics in the UK is constrained by a complex array of career progression barriers. These barriers have led to an increasing trend of horizontal career (lack of) progression. The purpose of this paper is to reveal and discuss linearity and horizontality constrictions, challenges and issues impacting on potential careers in tourism academia.

This study uses a leading UK national academic recruitment website to gather data and insights from across 137 posted jobs related to tourism between 2020 and 2022.

The main findings of this work note the constrictions of the UK academic job market and the consequences it poses for academics within tourism and beyond. It is proposed that future research to further understand the realities faced by academics is needed to prompt action for change to create more enriching career development.

The contribution of this study centres around sense making a phenomenon that exists but is not often talked about within academia (whether in tourism or beyond). For academics and managers, this paper presents an opportunity to reflect more holistically on careers with a view to instigating valuable change moving forward (for oneself or others). There is also a dearth of studies relating to career progression of tourism higher education educators.

This paper aims to examine the structure and content of religious tourism destination image through the reviews of visitors to Makkah and Medina, two of the world’s most popular Muslim pilgrimage sites.

This is an exploratory netnographic study of the 913 reviews posted on TripAdvisor from 2018 to 2022. The structure (dimensions and attributes) and content (variables) comprising the construct of religious tourism destination image emerge through manual thematic analysis and confirmed through content analysis.

Religious tourism destination image is a three-dimensional – cognitive, affective and conative – construct comprising both religion-specific, generally sacred and secular variables in a single, indivisible crystallization of experience.

Destination marketing organizations and marketers of tourism enterprises should regularly analyze visitor reviews posted on social media and carefully manage all variables of the religious tourism destination image, specifically stressing the religious aspect.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic analysis of the structure and content of religious tourism destination image based on detailed consumer evaluations and unprompted storytelling.

Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead article in the special issue in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing on Cutting-Edge Research in Social Media and Interactive Marketing, this review and agenda article has two key goals: (1) to review key SM and interactive marketing research over the past three years and (2) to identify the next wave of high priority challenges and research opportunities.

Given the “cutting-edge” research focus of the special issue, this review and research agenda paper focused on articles published in 25 key marketing journals between January 2021 and March 2024. Initially, the search request was for articles with “social media, social selling, social commerce” located in the article title, author-selected key words and journal-selected keywords. Later, we conducted searches based on terminology from articles presented in the final review. In total, over 1,000 articles were reviewed across the 25 journals, plus additional ones that were cited in those journals that were not on the initial list.

Our review uncovered eight key content areas: (1) data sources, methodology and scale development; (2) emergent SM technologies; (3) artificial intelligence; (4) virtual reality; (5) sales and sales management; (6) consumer welfare; (7) influencer marketing; and (8) social commerce. Table I provides a summer of key articles and research findings for each of the content areas.

As a literature review and research agenda article, this paper is one of the most extensive to date on SM marketing, and particularly with regard to emergent research over the past three years. Recommendations for future research are integrated through the paper and summarized in Figure 2.

Consumer welfare is one of the eight emergent content areas uncovered in the literature review. Specific focus is on SM privacy, misinformation, mental health and misbehavior.