LAUSR

Abstract Although food tourism has been characterized as an emerging industry, studies of branding in food tourism are limited. This work applies a novel, value-driven approach to evaluate experiential value as the antecedent for branding food tourism. The research setting is Tainan: a Taiwanese historical city with many street vendors selling traditional foods. Data were collected only from Taiwanese residents. Empirical results reveal that one type of experiential value, consumer return on investment (CROI), can significantly enhance a place's food image. Place food image then, in turn, significantly affects a tourist's behavioral intentions toward food tourism. Based on the findings, the study makes a theoretical contribution to examining experiential values in food tourism by identifying CROI as a key antecedent of place food image. The study also makes practical recommendations for branding food tourism in a given destination.