Not just another trinket: defining unique attributes of food souvenirs

ABSTRACT

Within tourism research, food and drink souvenirs have primarily been considered a subset of local goods. This research note justifies a separate classification for food souvenirs. After reviewing relevant literature, nine unique characteristics of food and drink souvenirs are identified. These range from the attributes of the product (having a functional use with a future moment of consumption) to the consumers’ emotional experience (reliving the senses of the journey) and lasting economic impact (through future purchases). It also proposes that food souvenirs may be more connected with local ways of life, landscapes, and industries than other souvenir goods. These factors establish the importance of food souvenirs for the traveller and the destination as well as proposing future research streams in the areas of souvenirs and food souvenirs.

KEYWORDS:

• Souvenir
• food souvenir
• retail tourism
• food tourism
• culinary tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew J. Stone

Matthew J. Stone, PhD, is Associate Professor of Marketing at California State University, Chico. His research focuses on consumer behavior in tourism with a specialization in food tourism (culinary tourism) research. He serves as lead research advisor for the World Food Travel Association and was a Fulbright Scholar in Finland. He is a native of Central Illinois (USA), and his passion is travel.