Food markets visitors: a typology proposal

Abstract

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – Focusing on food markets popularity among tourists, the purpose of this paper is to differentiate clusters of tourists based on their behaviour during their visit of these food halls. Design/methodology/approach – Factor-cluster analysis is the segmentation method used to identify food markets groupings related to their motivations, while ANOVA was performed to determine differences between clusters when it comes to perceived authenticity, satisfaction and revisit intention. La Boqueria in Barcelona (Spain) is the paradigmatic food market used to conduct 196 survey respondents based on factor importance. Findings – Two homogenous clusters were identified and labelled as apathetic-market visitors and food-market lovers. Practical implications – Segmentation proposal provides insights to be taken into account for future Destination Management Organisation’s policies, related to promotional activities and destination branding development. They could create effective tailor-made promotional campaigns and adequate business strategies to further attract more food lovers markets, without removing apathetic-market visitors. Originality/value – Fill the gap in the existing knowledge on the tourism interest of local markets in destinations and identify through factor-cluster analysis.