Critical realism: a methodological design for destination food image research

Mun Yee Lai, Catheryn Khoo, Ying Wang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper provides a critical realist reflection on methodological decisions that frame examination of the effectiveness of destination branding using food and cuisine. The authors use a multi-method strategy to evaluate the degree of congruence amongst (1) destination marketers’ promotional food images, (2) internal stakeholders’ perception of images, and (3) tourists’ views of food destinations. Results reveal that critical realism enhances the capacity to explore the less observable forces influencing food image across diverse stakeholder groups and builds a more coherent attribute-based framework to measure gaps in perception.

Original languageEnglish
JournalTourism Recreation Research
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Critical realism
  • destination branding
  • destination food image
  • food tourism
  • multi-method design

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Cultural Studies
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Critical realism: a methodological design for destination food image research'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this