SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Issues-JOHTI / 2026 / Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1

The Mediating Role of Variety Seeking in the Effect of Neophobia and Neophilia on Street Food Attitude

Neofobi ve Neofili'nin Sokak Yemekleri Tutumuna Etkisinde Çeşitlilik Arayışının Aracılık Rolü

Tuğrul Ayyıldız(AYDIN ADNAN MENDERES ÜNİVERSİTESİ, TURİZM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-6332-975X
Pages
34–50
Publication Date
2026-06-30
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

However, when examining the mediating effect of variety seeking on neophilia's influence on street food attitudes, a partial mediating effect was observed.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:People seek diverse experiences in their daily lives, and food experiences are among the most common.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Street food holds a significant place among these experiences due to its affordability and quick preparation.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:However, when examining the mediating effect of variety seeking on neophilia's influence on street food attitudes, a partial mediating effect was observed.
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Sokak Yemekleri · Çeşitlilik Arayışı · Neofobi

Abstract

People seek diverse experiences in their daily lives, and food experiences are among the most common. Street food holds a significant place among these experiences due to its affordability and quick preparation. The variety seeking, neophilia, and neophobia are influential factors in the consumption of street food. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to determine the mediating role of variety seeking on the effect of neophobia and neophilia on attitudes towards street food. Correlational model from quantitative research methods used in this research. Data was collected from the sample using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was prepared using Google Forms and the link was distributed to participants via social media. Convenience sampling was used in the research. 357 people participated in the study. SPSS and SmartPLS programs were used for data analysis. Frequency analysis was performed to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. The model created was then tested using the SmartPLS program. According to the research results, neophilia and the variety seeking were found to have an effect on all dimensions of attitudes towards street food. Neophobia, however, was found to have an effect on only two dimensions. The study examined the mediating effect of diversity seeking on the dimensions of street food attitudes related to neophobia and neophilia. It found that variety seeking had no mediating effect on neophobia's influence on street food attitudes. However, when examining the mediating effect of variety seeking on neophilia's influence on street food attitudes, a partial mediating effect was observed.

Özet

İnsanlar günlük yaşamlarında farklı deneyimler ararlar. Bunlar arasında ilk sıralarda yiyecek deneyimi gelmektedir. İnsanların farklı yiyecekleri deneyimlemeleri arasında sokak lezzetleri daha ekonomik olması, hızlı hazırlanması gibi nedenlerle önemli bir yer tutar. Sokak lezzetlerinin tüketilmesinde çeşitlilik arayışı, neofili ve neofobi etkili faktörlerdir. Bu doğrultuda bu araştırmanın temel amacı neofobi ve neofilinin sokak lezzetleri tutumuna etkisinde çeşitlilik arayışının aracılık etkisini belirlemektir. Araştırmada nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden ilişkisel tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Veriler örneklemden anket tekniği ile toplanmıştır. Hazırlanan anket Google Forms ile hazırlanmış ve link, sosyal medya aracılığı ile katılımcılara ulaştırılmıştır. Araştırmada kolayda örnekleme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Araştırmaya 357 kişi katılmıştır. Araştırmada verilerin analizi için SPSS ve SmartPLS programlarından faydalanılmıştır. Katılımcıların demografik özelliklerini belirlemek için frekans analizi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Daha sonra oluşturulan model SmartPLS programı aracılığı ile test edilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre neofili ve çeşitlilik arayışının sokak lezzetleri tutumu boyutlarının tümü üzerinde etkili olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Neofobinin ise sadece 2 boyut üzerinde etkisi olduğu belirlenmiştir. Araştırma kapsamında neofobi ve neofilinin sokak lezzetleri tutumu boyutları üzerine etkisinde çeşitlilik arayışının aracılık etkisi incelendiğinde, neofobinin sokak lezzetleri tutumu boyutlarına etkisinde çeşitlilik arayışının aracılık etkisi olmadığı bulunmuştur. Neofilinin sokak lezzetleri tutumu boyutlarına etkisinde çeşitlilik arayışının aracılık etkisi incelendiğinde çeşitlilik arayışının kısmi aracılık etkisi olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Ayyıldız, T. (2026). The Mediating Role of Variety Seeking in the Effect of Neophobia and Neophilia on Street Food Attitude. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Issues-JOHTI, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1, 34–50. https://doi.org/10.51525/johti.1931541

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (57)

  1. Akinbode, S. O., Dipeolu A. O. & Okuneye, P. A. (2011). Willingness to pay for street food safety in Ogun State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, 12(2), 154-166.
  2. Alfiero, S., Giudice, A. L., & Bonadonna, A. (2017). Street food and innovation: The food truck phenomenon. British Food Journal, 119 (11), 2462-2476.
  3. Alimi, B.A. (2016). Risk factors in street food practices in developing countries: A review. Food Science and Human Wellness, 5, 141-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2016.05.001
  4. Asim, I., & Yasmeen, H. (2020). Safety of street foods in developing countries: An overview from Pakistan. The Journal of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.52700/jmmg.v1i1.7
  5. Baltezarević, R., & Baltezarević, I. (2024) The experience economy: Providing memorable experiences to customers. İçinde 13th International "Communication in the World" Congress (ss.397-401). IKSAD Publications, Çanakkale
  6. Beldona, S., Moreo, A. P., & Mundhra, G. D. (2010). The role of involvement and variety-seeking in eating out behaviors, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(3), 433-444.
  7. Buscemi, S., Barile, A., Maniaci, V., Batsis, J. A., Mattina, A., & Verga, S. (2011). Characterization of street food consumption in Palermo, possible effects on health. Nutrition Journal, 10, 119. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-10-119
  8. Cai, Y., Xu, L. & Zhang, K. (2024). The effect of social support on consumers' variety seeking. Int J. Con Stud. 48, e13880. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.13080
  9. Ceyhun Sezgin, A., & Şanlier, N. (2016). Street food consumption in terms of the food safety and health, Journal of Human Sciences, 13 (3), 4072-4083.
  10. Chakravorti, S. (2024). Understanding global street food consumer behavior and experience: A narrative review of literature and development of framework. Journal of Applied Marketing Theory, 11(2), 85-110.
  11. Chang, E.-C., Wen, B., & Tang, X. (2021). The effect of winning-losing perception on consumers’ variety-seeking behavior. European Journal of Marketing, 55(6), 1624-1642.
  12. Chavarria, L. C. T., & Phakdee-auksorn, P. (2017). Understanding international tourists' Attitudes towards street food in Phuket, Thailand. Tourism Management Perspectives, 21, 66- 73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2016.11.005
  13. Choi, J. (2019). Tourist food variety-seeking behavior under uncertainty: The moderating role of information search, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 25(9), 944-960.
  14. Choi, J., Lee, A., & Ok, C. (2013): The effects of consumers' perceived risk and benefit on attitude and behavioral intention: A study of street food. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30(3), 222-237. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2013.774916
  15. Cifci, I., Ögretmenoglu, M., Sengel, T., Demirciftci, T., & Kandemir Altunel, G. (2024). Effects of tourists’ street food experience and food neophobia on their post-travel behaviors: The roles of destination image and
  16. Corona-Phobia. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 25(5), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/1528008X.2022.2151550
  17. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2. baskı). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  18. Cui, H. J., Yao, F. Jin, X. T., Zhao, T. Y., Xu, W. & Smyczek, S. (2023). Effect of regulatory focus on food variety-seeking behavior of chinese tourists. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348020988893
  19. Çıtak, B. & Yilmaz, E. G. (2023). The effect of the gastronomy and cookery students’ neophobic and neophilic tendencies on their attitudes toward the street flavors. Anais Brasileiros De Estudos Turísticos, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10027234.
  20. Dursun, F. (2024). A conceptual study on the role of street food in gastronomic tourism. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Issues. https://doi.org/10.51525/johti.1554128
  21. Effendi, I. F. & Widyastuti, (2024). The effect of variety seeking, dissatisfaction, and service quality toward brand switching on netflix streaming service. Social Science. Studies, 4(1), 52-65.
  22. Fornell, C. & Larcker D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error, Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (1), 39-50.
  23. Fuller, C. M., Simmering, M. J., Atinc, G., Atinc, Y., & Babin, B. J. (2016). Common methods variance detection in business research. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 3192-3198.
  24. Gupta, V., Sajnani, M., & Gupta, K. (2020). Street foods: Contemporary preference of tourists and its role as a destination attraction in India. International Journal of Culture, Tourısm and Hospitality Research, 14(1), 136-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-07-2018-0092
  25. Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2011). PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679190202
  26. Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (2. Baskı), Sage Publications.
  27. Hair, J., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M. and Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203.
  28. Hashemi, S., Mohammed, H. J., Kiumarsi, S., Kee D. M. H. & Anarestani, B. B. (2023) Destinations food image and food neophobia on behavioral intentions: Culinary tourist behavior in Malaysia. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 35(1), 66-87.
  29. Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., and Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
  30. Hiamey, S. E., Amuquandoh, F. E., & Boison, G. A. (2013). Are we indeed what we eat? Street food consumption in the Market Circle area of Takoradi, Ghana. Nutrition and Health, 22, 215-235. DOI: 10.1177/0260106015599482
  31. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to under parameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 424-453.
  32. Hussain, K., Abbasi, A. Z., Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Schultz, C. D., Ting, D. H., & Ali, F. (2023). Local food consumption values and attitude formation: The moderating effect of food neophilia and neophobia. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(2), 464-491, 10.1108/JHTI-08-2021-0214
  33. Jaffe, K., Carciente, S. L., & Zanoni, W. (2007). The economic limits of trust: The case of a Latin-American urban informal commerce sector. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 12(3), 339–352.
  34. Khanna, S., Nagar, K., Chauhan, V., & Bhagat, S. (2022). Application of the extended theory of planned behavior to street-food consumption: Testing the effect of food neophobia among Indian consumers. British Food Journal, 124(2), 550-572. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-04-2021-0403
  35. Kock, F., Berbekova, A., & Assaf, A. G. (2021). Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control. Tourism Management, 86, 104330.
  36. Kodaş, D. (2022). Yerli ziyaretçilerin çeşitlilik arayışı eğiliminin destinasyon sadakati üzerindeki etkisi: gastronomi motivasyonunun aracılık rolü, Journal of Tourism & Gastronomy Studies, 10(4), 3593-3607.
  37. Kovalenko, A., Dias, Á., Pereira, L., & Simões, A. (2023). Gastronomic experience and consumer behavior: Analyzing the influence on destination image. Foods, 12(2), 315.
  38. Lee, S., Chua, B. L., & Han, H. (2020). Variety-seekingmotivations and customer behaviors for new res-taurants: An empirical comparison amongfull-service, quick-casual, and quick-service restaurants. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 43(1), 220–231.
  39. Lin-Hi N, Schäfer K, Blumberg I., & Hollands L. (2022). The Omnivore’s paradox and consumer acceptance of cultured meat: An experimental investigation into the role of perceived organizational competence and excitement. J Clean Prod., 338, 130593.
  40. Lohmöller, J. B. (1989). Latent variable path modeling with partial least squares. Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-52512-4_5
  41. Okumuş, B., Dedeoğlu, B.B. & Shi, F. (2021). Gender and generation as antecedents of food neophobia and food neophilia. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, 100773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100773
  42. Ozcelik, A., & Akova, O. (2021). The impact of street food experience on behavioural intention. British Food Journal, 123(12), 4175–4193. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2020-0481
  43. Pliner, P. & Hobden, K. (1992). Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans, Appetite, 19, 105-120.
  44. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452
  45. Rahi S (2017) Research Design and Methods: A Systematic Review of Research Paradigms, Sampling Issues and Instruments Development. Int J Econ Manag Sci 6: 403. doi: 10.4172/2162-6359.1000403
  46. Rane, S. (2011). Street vended food in developing world: Hazard analyses. Indian Journal of Microbiology; 51 (1), 100-106.
  47. Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2017). Partial least squares structural equation modeling, İçinde Homburg, C. Klarmann, M. & Vomberg A. (Ed.), Handbook of Market Research (ss. 1-40.), Springer International Publishing.
  48. Schroeter, C. (2001). Consumer attitudes towards food safety risks associated with meat processing. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/ bitstream/26468/1/dp010005.pdf, Erişim Tarihi: 26.06. 2026.
  49. Seo, S. & Kim, M.K. (2023). Consumers’ neophobic and variety-seeking tendency in food choices according to their fashion involvement status: An exploratory study of Korean consumers. Foods, 12(9), 1878.
  50. Sgroi, F., Modica, F., & Fuste-Forne, F. (2022). Street food in Palermo: Traditions and market perspectives. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 27, 100482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2022.100482
  51. Şahin Perçin, N. & Yiğit, S. (2020). Tripadvisor’da yer alan yiyecek ve içecek işletmeleri hakkındaki e-şikâyetlerin değerlendirilmesi: Kapadokya bölgesi örneği. Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies, 8(4), 2985–3001.
  52. Tarınç, A., Aytekin, A., Ozbek, O., Ergün, G., Keleş, A., Uslu, F. & Yayla, Ö. (2023). How do food neophobia and neophilia moderate the effect of local food quality on dining satisfaction and post-dining behavioral intention in the perspective of sustainable gastronomy tourism?. Sustainability, 15(12), 9510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129510
  53. Unal N, Atabey MK, & Şanlier N. (2025). The relationship of neophobia and neophilia to the life events among young adults. Arch Pharm Pract, 16(1), 1-7.
  54. Uzut, S., & Harman, S. (2024). Sokak lezzetlerinde çeşitlilik arayışı motivasyonunun memnuniyet üzerindeki etkisi: İstanbul örneği. Tourism and Recreation, 6(1), 89-103.
  55. Van Trijp, H. C., Lähteenmäki, L., & Tuorila, H. (1992). Variety seeking in the consumption of spread and cheese. Appetite, 18(2), 155-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-6663(92)90192-9
  56. WHO (2024, 6 Haziran). https://www.who.int/southeastasia/multimedia/item/2.5-billion-people-eat-street-food Erişim Tarihi: 14.04.2026.
  57. Wortmann, H. R., Gisch, U. A., Bergmann, M. M., & Warschburger, P. (2023). Exploring the longitudinal stability of food neophilia and dietary quality and their prospective relationship in older adults: A cross-lagged panel analysis. Nutrients, 15, 1248. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051248