Perceived food souvenir quality as a formative second-order construct: how do tourists evaluate the quality of food souvenirs?

Tourists show an increasing interest in locally produced food items and bring them home as souvenirs. Despite a few discussions about food souvenirs, no research addresses how to evaluate the product quality from the consumer-based perceptual/evaluative perspective. In this study, the authors present a complete process for conceptualizing and operationalizing a formative second-order construct for food souvenir quality including a thorough literature review, one qualitative study and two quantitative studies. The model comprises nine dimensions: production specification, sensual appeals, packaging, word-of-mouth, price, brand, history/tradition, award/certification and food safety & health – measured by 16 formative indicators in total. Consumers identify dimensional indicators using paper-based surveys. Structural equation modelling examines linkages between the perceived quality and outcome measures (perceived value and purchase intention). Data collected from 611 consumers show that the resulting model performs well. The model also satisfies the criteria for evaluating formative indexes. Another sample consisting of 486 respondents cross-validates the findings. The study develops a robust measure across multiple food souvenir consumption contexts. The proposed model is an easy-to-use tool to assess the effect of quality dimensions/indicators and enables managers to determine how resources should be allocated to improve quality.