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This paper aims to examine the effects of perceived authenticity at an independent, full-service mainstream ethnic restaurant and the moderating effects of diners’ cultural familiarity and cultural motivation on the influence of perceived authenticity on perceived value and behavioral intention.

A total of 417 self-administered questionnaires were collected from customers of an independent, full-service Italian restaurant in southeastern USA. The data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.

Restaurant authenticity has a positive influence on perceived value. Respondents who are more familiar with and interested in Italian culture and food tend to attach more value to the restaurant authenticity. Respondents tend to use authenticity to convey quality judgment of the restaurant.

First, this study advances previous literature on dining authenticity by incorporating cultural familiarity and cultural motivation. Second, this study extends the theoretical framework of perceived quality of ethnic restaurants by connecting authenticity perceptions and quality assessment.

Results suggest that the managers at independent, full-service mainstream ethnic restaurants should focus on the restaurants’ environment and atmospheric authenticity, especially for customers who possess cultural familiarity and cultural motivation, while also ensuring the quality of food and service.

This study makes an initial attempt at studying the role of authenticity in a mainstream ethnic restaurant context and adds to the knowledge of restaurant authenticity from the perspectives of cultural familiarity, cultural motivation and perceived quality.

The purpose of this paper is to find out how the overall destination experiences of the foreign tourists in India are influenced by the perceived authenticity of the street foods and the degree of their variation/modification. It will also discuss how these characteristics further influence the tourists’ behavioural intentions (intention to revisit and word-of-mouth).

Data have been collected from 263 foreign tourists visiting Delhi at various street food vending sites using location intercept technique through structured questionnaire. Different ad hoc scales were adapted based on previous studies for measuring the perception of authenticity, ability to adapt, cultural disparity and overall perceived experience. The partial least squares method was applied to achieve the dual estimation of the measurement and the structural model.

Result indicates that perceived authenticity and cultural disparity have a positive influence on the overall perceived experiences of the foreign tourists. It is also found that the degree of variation/modification in the street foods condenses the authenticity perception of the tourists. Findings reveal that the tourists are less influenced by the cultural disparity when they are able to adapt to diverse cultures and simultaneously authenticity have a larger effect on their overall destination experiences.

Although various studies have been conducted in the past related to the food experiences of tourists at various destinations, this will be the first attempt to find out how the overall destination experiences of the foreign tourists in India are influenced by the perceived authenticity of the street foods and the degree of their variation/adaptation. It will help the stakeholders to appropriately align the gastronomic product and enhance the tourists’ overall destination experiences.

Intercultural service encounters (ICSEs) often require adaptation to the customer’s culture, thereby risking a reduction in the cultural authenticity of the experience. This study aims to research the optimum level of adaptation of an ICSE needed to achieve desired authenticity perceptions for positive consumer outcomes. The study also identifies the influence of generational cohorts and cultural competencies on developing such positive consumer outcomes.

The study uses two scenario-based experiments depicting low, moderate and high levels of adaptation to an ICSE.

Consumers prefer a cultural experience with a moderate level of adaptation to achieve the highest level of satisfaction and loyalty intentions. Perceived authenticity mediates the effect of adaptation on outcomes, with the generational stage (Study 1) and cultural competencies (Study 2) further influencing the relationship.

ICSEs and consumers’ desire for such cultural experiences are increasingly becoming a part of everyday consumption. Guided by social judgment theory, this study explores how two value-adding, yet conflicting tenants of successful ICSEs, cultural authenticity and adaptation, influence positive consumer outcomes.

In response to today’s marketplace in which many Asian brands are trying to expand their businesses into Western nations, this study investigated the strategic use of cultural authenticity that Asian brands may employ for their success. Although the benefits of using cultural heritage in brand strategies have been noted by past literature, the efficacies of how Asian brands can use brand logo designs to positively influence their brand success have not been studied. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese brands can increase willingness to try among US consumers by establishing brand uniqueness via culturally authentic brand logo designs.

The data from 289 respondents via online between-subjects factorial experimental research surveys were collected using a national US population as the sample frame. The Chinese brand logos communicating Asian heritage were created by manipulating the cultural authenticity of the brand logo mark and the language of the logotype.

The results suggested that the Asian-themed brand logo is an important tool in exuding a Chinese brand’s sense of cultural authenticity to US consumers. In turn, the perception of cultural authenticity for the Chinese brand positively influenced the US consumers’ perceptions of the brand’s uniqueness, which led to greater willingness to try the brand.

The research provides empirical insights into how “Asian-ness” can be manifested via brand logos to convey cultural authenticity as well as to build perceived brand uniqueness and the willingness to try among US consumers.

This paper aims to investigate the moderating role of aesthetic experience in the effect of authenticity on satisfaction in cultural heritage sites. At the same time, this study guides the perception of authenticity in cultural heritage sites.

Using structural equation modelling for quantitative data analysis, empirical data were collected from tourists in a cultural heritage site.

As a result of the findings, it was determined that the objective and constructive authenticity of the tourists did not affect satisfaction, while the existential authenticity affected satisfaction. The moderating role of aesthetic experience between existential authenticity and overall satisfaction has been determined.

The study suggests that aesthetic experience can be used by destination managers in tourists' perceptions of existential authenticity.

This study is the first to use aesthetic experience in tourists' perception of authenticity in cultural heritage sites. The findings show the importance of aesthetic experience in existential authenticity.

This research draws upon construal level theory to investigate how brands can develop effective international marketing strategies using country image versus product image across international markets with different cultural distances between them.

The paper reports two preliminary studies and three experimental studies in the context of Australian brands using a “clean and green” image. The preliminary studies explore how product versus country image and cultural similarity are related to construal levels. Then, Study 1 examines consumers from different countries as a proxy of cultural distance, whereas Studies 2 and 3 manipulate levels of cultural distance to test the effects on consumers. Moreover, Study 3 also uses a behavioral outcome as the focal dependent variable and tests the underlying mechanism.

The results demonstrate a significant interaction effect between country-of-origin positioning and cultural distance, such that an Australian brand emphasizing the country (vs product) image gains more favorable responses among consumers with high levels of cultural distance. Conversely, an Australian brand emphasizing the product (vs country) image gains more favorable responses among consumers with low levels of cultural distance. Further, this research identifies perceived brand cultural authenticity as the underlying process driving the interaction effect.

The findings of this research contribute to the literature on international marketing in general and the country-of-origin literature in particular by examining country-of-origin positioning and cultural distance from the construal level perspective. The research also provides managerial implications on how to promote products in the international market across different cultural distances.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale for host sincerity.

The ten-item host sincerity scale was developed by following a multi-stage scale development procedure (Delphi technique, qualitative interviews and surveys).

The findings reveal that host sincerity is a second-order construct with two underlying dimensions: “sincere social interaction” and “sincere emotional response”. By incorporating host sincerity into the consumer-based model of authenticity, the findings established significant relationships among all constructs, confirming the predictive validity of the host sincerity construct.

Data were gathered from visitors to troglodyte heritage sites (Kandovan and Cappadocia). Future studies should test the newly formed sincerity scale at other cultural destinations to further explore the generalisability of the scale. Further, data were gathered from tourists. Future studies should consider host sincerity from a host perspective.

Cultural destination managers and local hosts can use this instrument as a supplementary tool to evaluate how sincere their hospitality offering appears to tourists.

This paper develops a host sincerity scale to explore the importance of sincere host–guest interactions and tourists’ emotional response to these interactions. It extends the consumer-based model of authenticity by drawing further attention to the importance and impact of host sincerity in stimulating memorable tourism experiences.

This study aims to assess the relationships between cultural travel motivation, two dimensions of authenticity and satisfaction of domestic tourists visiting Sirince in Turkey. Given the structure of the model, authenticity is two latent variables, indirectly affecting satisfaction.

The research takes a predictive and explanatory approach rather than theory confirmation. Partial least squares (PLS) algorithm was used to assess the multiple mediation. The data were collected from 391 domestic visitors through a self-administered questionnaire.

The research highlights that two dimensions of authenticity have a statistically mediating influences on the relationship between cultural travel motivation and satisfaction. Furthermore, while cultural travel motivation is the most important predictor of satisfaction, object-based authenticity has emerged as an antecedent variable that deserves to be given the highest importance. Finally, first time visitors and repeaters did not differ across all relationships in the model.

The fact that the data were collected only from Sirince can be considered as geographical limitations of the study. Another limitation is that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the data were obtained only from domestic tourists visiting Sirince.

The study on the multiple mediating roles of authenticity in the relationship between motivation factor alongside satisfaction revealed a variety of application opportunities, particularly for destinations attempting to position themselves as authentic. Accordingly, authenticity concept gains significance in tourism industry more often because unique experiences at the visited destinations can satisfy the individuals in search of their self-identity.

Furthermore, transformation of authentic places into tourism destinations develops cultural values in line with expectations of tourists. However, this transforms domestic cultural factors into commercial products by eroding their significance in the eye of local residents. This invites artificiality by drifting apart from originality of cultural elements. Each element serves as part of authenticity is indeed away from authentic experience even though it is regarded as an authentic experience from tourists’ perspective because it diverts from its reality. Establishing balance between tourists’ travel motivations and their expectation from authentic destination is substantially important to satisfy their sensational and sentimental expectations. In addition to the ones mentioned above, managers should take an active role in promotion and focus on sponsorship activities to highlight the authenticity of Sirince; begin reconstruction works by considering the original architecture specific to the region; and pay attention to the compatibility of the new architectural texture with the destination character. As stated in the study of Genc and Gulertekin Genc (2021), special attention should be paid to the harmony between the architectural texture and the destination feature. Finally, considering that authenticity has a mediating role between cultural travel motivation and satisfaction, authentic values should be highlighted in promotional videos.

There has been very little research into the role of the dimensions of authenticity in mediating the relationship between cultural motivation and satisfaction. Unlike previous studies on authenticity and tourism, this research attempted to examine the relationship between cultural travel motivation and satisfaction by involving two dimensions of authenticity into the model.

The purpose of this paper is to compare customer perceptions of hotel and peer-to-peer (e.g. Airbnb) accommodation advantages and disadvantages and examine their influence on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. The advantages of each accommodation type are conceptualized through perceived travel experience authenticity, whereas the disadvantages are evaluated through the risks associated with staying at each accommodation type, including product performance risk, time/convenience risk and safety and security risk.

A cross-sectional survey was designed and disseminated to gather the data necessary to fulfill the study objectives. A total of 391 usable responses were collected for a multi-group analysis of the structural model designed to test the proposed relationships.

The multi-group comparison revealed similarities between the peer-to-peer (Airbnb) and hotel guest structural models. Model testing revealed a strong positive relationship between satisfaction and repurchase intention. Perceived authenticity was identified as a statistically significant satisfaction predictor for both accommodation types. Time/convenience and product performance risks were found to be insignificant predictors of guest satisfaction, while safety and security risk appeared to be statistically significant only in the Airbnb sample.

This study’s recruited sample represented a higher concentration of younger travelers, and, therefore, might only be generalized to the corresponding US traveler group population. Additionally, samples recruited via Amazon’s MTurk may be subject to self-selection bias as any other non-probability samples. Consequently, further research with a larger and more diverse sample is recommended.

It is recommended for both hotels and Airbnb to strengthen the authenticity of their accommodation offerings to provide a better guest experience and increase consumer satisfaction.

To develop the authenticity component, Airbnb hosts and hotels may offer local experiences to their customers, where guests would be able to engage with the community and to see and feel how the city lives. Such partnerships may not only improve the traveler experiences but also support the local community and strengthen the ties between local businesses.

This study contributes to the literature by advancing understanding of peer-to-peer (Airbnb) versus hotel accommodation consumer preferences. This study offers relevant theoretical constructs for assessing both accommodation types’ advantages and disadvantages.

In the field of tourism, numerous studies have been conducted on tourists' food experiences. However, more studies are needed to comprehend tourists' dining experience in unique cuisines. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to examine the components of tourists' dining experiences related to palace cuisine foods.

In this study, a qualitative approach was adopted to capture the components of tourists' dining experiences. The online narratives of tourists (n = 911) who had experienced Ottoman palace cuisine in Istanbul were obtained from an online travel platform (TripAdvisor) and analyzed using content analysis.

Seven main components were revealed: perceived authenticity, perceived service quality, knowledge, a sense of royalty, food specialties and attributes, a memorable experience and a sense of awe.

By identifying components of the palace cuisine dining experience and their relevant importance, the findings of this study can increase service providers' knowledge and facilitate their jobs. To be able to meet the expectations of tourists experiencing the palace cuisine, service providers can improve their services by considering research results.

Results revealed that obtained six dimensions were parallel with previous studies on food experience; however, this study uncovered a previously unexplored dimension named a sense of royalty. This can be shown as the unique contribution of this study to the tourist food experience literature.