The Reflections of Gastronomic Experience on Brand Loyalty

Abstract

Gastronomic experience can be defined as the result of the interaction of all processes, especially in the high cuisine, which includes social, emotional, intellectual, imaginary and technical situations beyond a mere eating activity. The number of establishments that have made it their mission to offer such experiences to people has also increased significantly compared to the past. In this case , in line with the increase with the competition between brands, businesses have entered into new searches in order not to lose their loyal customers In addition, the number of people who are conscious and aware of high cuisine continues to increase day by day. As a result of people's gastronomic experience, the number of knowledgeable people who interpret/understand the food consciously and share it with the people around has increased significantly. In line with the facilitation of access to information, the development of the information spectrum of individuals is one of the basic phenomena of today. In this direction, especially the food and beverage businesses that appeal to high cuisine use gastronomic experience as an important marketing weapon. In this context, the study aims to quantitatively question the experience elements that are effective in creating brand loyalty and to produce scientific data in this direction, considering the expectations of the people of the food and beverage businesses that try to offer gastronomic experience. The questionnaire developed for this goal was applied to 335 foodie (moderate version of gourmet) participants in groups relatively high in social economic status, and the reflection of the gastronomic experience they had in the luxury restaurants (fine dining) on brand loyalty was analyzed quantitatively. As a result of the research, it has been determined that gastronomic experience has positive effects on attitudinal brand loyalty, but there is no consequential relationship between behavioral brand loyalty.