Influence of Push and Pull Motivations on Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions within a Culinary Tourism Event

The study constructs a causal model of culinary tourist behavior from the theoretical framework of push and pull motivations. The study proposed that culinary event attendees' expenditures, word-of-mouth behavior, and repeat patronage intentions would be affected by their overall event satisfaction. Push and pull motivations subsequently were examined for effect on overall satisfaction. Using multiple regression analysis with data collected from an international culinary event the study examined the above relationship. Results of the analysis can be summarized as: 1) food, event novelty, and socialization were push motivations identified for attending a culinary event; 2) food product, support services, and essential services were pull motivations and had a significant predictive affect on overall satisfaction; and 3) overall satisfaction had a significant relationship with outcome variables: word-of-mouth behavior and repeat patronage intentions. It is believed that results of the present study will be useful to organizers of culinary events and/or destination managers.