A Conceptualization of Tourists’ Food Behavior from a Habit Perspective

Abstract

This research aims to conceptually delineate how tourists make food consumption decisions in line with their home habits and why they may or may not follow their habitual trajectory. Grounded in an extensive review of the existing literature, concepts of habit and food behavior are synthesized to outline a series of propositions in explaining tourists’ food behavior from the habit perspective. Subsequently, a conceptual model is proposed for tourists’ food behavior and habits. Habit enacting factors have been identified in explicating the underlying processes through which tourists make food choices in line with their habits. This article highlights how tourists’ food behavior while on a trip can be dependent on their habitual food behavior at home. The findings of this research not only contribute to expanding the understanding regarding characteristics of habitual behavior that have been studied under limited contexts, but also establishes a theoretically valuable extension of prior research on tourists’ food behavior.