Propuesta

How perception and attitude of Gen Y consumers influence loyalty towards gastronomic tourism consumptions?

To analyze how perception and attitude of Generation Y influence their level of loyalty towards gastronomic tourism, the questionnaire would ask respondents to state whether they agree to keep revisiting food outlets that provide elements of gastronomic tourism as mentioned in previous questions despites more competitors arise. This question would later determine their level of loyalty towards gastronomic enterprises based on the elements of gastronomic tourism that they perceive, expect, and prefer. Thus the result of the questionnaire would prove whether perception, expectations, and preference attitude would relate to level of loyalty as customers shown by Generation Y towards gastronomic tourism in general.

2.2 Findings and Analysis

The online questionnaire was distributed to 201 respondents who have experienced gastronomic tourism activities in Selangor area. The results of the study regarding perceptions, attitude, and loyalty of Generation Y towards gastronomic tourism are summarized below.

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 1. Gender

Gender Frequency Percentage

Male 69 34.3%

Female 132 65.7%

Total 201 100%

Table 1. Gender

Based on the survey conducted with the total of 201 responses, the majority of respondents are female with 66% (132 respondents), while male respondents are 34% (69 respondents).

2. Age

Age Frequency Percentage

14 Years Old and Below 12 6% 15-19 Years Old 21 10.4% 20-24 Years Old 114 56.7% 25-29 Years Old 30 14.9% 30-34 Years Old 24 11.9% Total 201 100% Table 2. Age

Based on the survey conducted, majority of the respondents are 20-24 years old, with the total number of 114 respondents. The next biggest respondents category is those who aged from 25-29 years old with the total number of 30 respondents, then 30-34 years old category with 24 respondents in total, 15- 19 years old category with 21 respondents and 14 years old and below category being the lowest with 12 respondents in total.

3. Race

Race Frequency Percentage

Chinese 127 63.2% Figure 2. Gender Figure 3. Age Object 3 Object 5 Object 7

Malay 39 19.4%

Indian 22 10.9%

Others 13 6.5%

Total 201 100%

Table 3. Race

The majority of respondents are Chinese with the total of 127 respondents, while the total of Malaysian respondents are 39 respondents. Indian respondents come with the total number of 22 respondents. The last 7% of respondents belongs to those who come from different race, being 1 Filipino respondent, 1 Romanian respondent, 1 Thailand respondent, 1 Vietnam respondent, 1 Zoroastian respondent, 5 Korean respondents, and 3 Persian respondents.

4. Nationality

Nationality Frequency Percentage

Malaysian 73 36.3% Indonesian 94 46.8% Chinese 18 9% Others 16 8% Total 201 100% Table 4. Nationality

Based on the nationality of the respondents, we can see in Figure 1.4 that majority of respondents are Indonesian and Malaysian. Indonesian respondents are 47% with the total of 94 people, while Malaysians are 36% with the total of 73 people. There are also 9% of Chinese respondents with the total of 18 people, and 8% of respondents coming from different nationalities, being 2 Bruneian, 1 Filipino, 3 Iranian, 5 Korean, 1 Pakistani, 1 Romana, 1 Singaporean, 1 Thailand, and 1 Vietnamese respondents.

Figure 4. Race

Figure 5. Nationality Object 9

OBJECTIVES ANALYSIS

Objective 1: To identify Gen Y customers’ general perception and expectations towards gastronomic tourism.

Question 1: Do you know what is gastronomic tourism? Awareness of Gastronomi c Tourism Frequenc y Percentag e Yes 114 56.7% No 87 43.3% Total 201 100%

Table 5. Awareness of Gastronomic Tourism

Based on the question “Do you know what is gastronomic tourism?”, the respondents are asked whether they are aware and understand about the meaning of gastronomic tourism. 56.7% of respondents with the total of 114 people claimed that they understand the meaning of gastronomic tourism, while 43.3% or respondents with the total of 87 people claimed that they don’t understand the meaning of gastronomic tourism. This means that in majority, Generation Y members claimed that they understand the term of gastronomic tourism.

Question 2: In your opinion, what is the meaning of purposely going out of your usual environment to eat?

Assumption Meaning

Responses

N Percentage

Go somewhere out of home environment (both near and far) to

eat 134 31%

Socializing activity with other customers while eating outside

usual area 108 25%

Studying culture and heritage of a place outside usual area by

consuming its food 95 22%

Experiencing different goods and services of food outlets based on

its concept outside usual area 95 22%

Others 0 0%

Total 432 100%

Table 6. Meaning of gastronomic tourism terms

Figure 6. Awareness of Gastronomic Tourism Object 11

Frequency table above explains about the assumption meaning of Generation Y towards gastronomic tourism. The question asked “In your opinion, what is the meaning of purposely going out of your usual environment to eat?” and the respondents are given 5 choices of answers. The respondents answered by ticking the statements they think appropriate, thus the answers could be more than 1 choice.

134 answers choose “Go somewhere out of home environment (both near and far) to eat”, 108 answers choose “Socializing activity with other customers while eating outside usual area”, 95 answers choose “Studying culture and heritage of a place outside usual area by consuming its food”, another 95 answers choose “Experiencing different goods and services of food outlets based on its concept outside usual area”, and no one answers different opinion regarding the questions.

In the percent figures, it is shown that “Go somewhere out of home environment (both near and far) to eat” is chosen 31% times from the total of responses put. “Socializing activity with other customers while eating outside usual area” is chosen 25% times from the total of responses put, while “Studying culture and heritage of a place outside usual area by consuming its food” and “Experiencing different goods and services of food outlets based on its concept outside usual area” choices are having equal figure, whereby both are chosen 22% times of the total responses put.

This shows that majority of the responses agree that gastronomic tourism involves going somewhere out of home environment (both near and far) to eat and it’s also a form of socializing activity with other customers during the eating session. Slightly lower than another figure, Generation Y customers agree that gastronomic tourism also involves studying culture and heritage of a place by consuming its food, as well as experiencing different goods and services of food outlets based on its concept. With the similar range of figure percentages, we can conclude that Generation Y customers, both who claim they understand the meaning of gastronomic tourism and those who claim don’t understand are actually understand what is the rough meaning of the activity, and thus meaning the awareness of gastronomic tourism is quite big among Generation Y customers.

Question 3: How many times in a week would you purposely go out of your usual environment to eat?

Consumption Frequency Percentage 1-3 times a week 109 54.2% 4-6 times a week 54 26.9% 7 times a week and above 38 18.9% Total 201 100%

Table 7. Gastronomic tourism consumption per week

When asked about frequencies of having gastronomic tourism consumption (purposely going out of usual environment to eat) in a week, 54.2% of respondents with the total of 109 people answered that they usually go for 1-3 times a week to do gastronomic tourism consumption, while 26.9% of respondents with the total of 54 people stated they usually go 4-6 times a week for gastronomic tourism consumption. 18.9% of respondents with the total of 38 people on the other hand answered that they usually go 7 times a week and above for gastronomic tourism consumption. This means that the consumption of home food meals of Generation Y is pretty low and they tend to choose places outside their usual environment to eat in weekly basis.

Question 4: What are the factors you think determine the perfect eating out session? Important Factors

Assumption

Responses

N Percentage

Flavor of the food product (authenticity and uniqueness of the taste)

177 24.8%

Food presentation which matched with the concept of the food outlet(e.g: shapes, color, utensils used)

126 17.7%

Location of the outlet that enhance desires to eat (e.g: accessibility, view)

126 17.7%

Service style of the staffs according to food outlet's concept (e.g: staff's uniform, friendliness, delivery process)

119 16.7%

Ambience of the outlets that 107 15%

Figure 7. Gastronomic Tourism consumption per week Object 13

gives better explanation of the concept (e.g: Interior and Exterior)

Cultural Heritage knowledge you obtained (e.g: history behind the food recipe, origin of the material, cooking process)

54 7.6%

Others 4 0.6%

Total 713 100%

Table 8. Factors determining successful gastronomic tourism

Frequency table above explains the general assumptions of Generation Y customers about factors determining the successfulness of gastronomic tourism session. There are 7 choices given for this questions and the respondents could tick the statement answers they think appropriate. Thus for this question, more than 1 answers could be made.

177 answers selected “Flavor of the food product” as the determinant factor for a successful gastronomic tourism session, while 126 answers selected both “Food presentation” and “Location of the outlet” as determinant factors. 119 answers selected “Services styles of the staffs” as determinant factors, and 54 answers selected “Cultural Heritage Knowledge obtained” as determinant factor during gastronomic tourism section. Another 4 answers gave different factors influencing the successfulness of gastronomic tourism section, including people whom we eat with, promotion of the food outlet stated in social media, and the cost of food product.

In the percent figures, it is shown that “Flavor of the food product” is chosen 24.8% times from the total of responses put. Both “Food presentation” and “Location of the food outlet” are chosen 17.7% times from the total of responses put. 16.7% of the times, “Service styles of the staffs” is chosen as determinant factors, and 15% of the times, “Ambience of the food outlet” option is selected. The lowest selection of answers belongs to “Cultural heritage knowledge” choice with total of 7.6% chosen times, and “Other factors” choice with the total 0.6% chosen times from the total of responses put.

This figure indicates that majority of Generation Y customers believe that the uniqueness and authenticity of the food product is the most influencing factor to determine the successfulness of gastronomic tourism session. Slightly below the flavor of the food, Food presentation, Location of the food outlet, Services styles of the staffs, and Ambience of the food outlet hold similar importance assumed by Generation Y customers, while Cultural Heritage Knowledge is assumed as less important factor by Generation Y customers. This means that in general, Generation Y customers believe the physical presentation of the

product at the time of consuming is more important than the history, origin, and preparation process of the food product.

Question 5: Please rate the importance of these factors to you during your eating out session.

The objective of this question is to examine each sample individual’s perception towards determinant factors of successful gastronomic tourism section. The respondents are asked to rate each of the factors from not important to very important based on their own perception towards gastronomic tourism activity.

Flavor of the food product Flavor Frequency Percentage

Not Important 1 0.5% Least Important 1 0.5% Neutral 18 9% Important 68 33.8% Very Important 113 56.2% Total 201 100%

Table 9. Flavor of the food product

The first factor is the flavor of the food product. 56.2% of the respondents with total of 113 people answered that authenticity and uniqueness of the food flavor is a very important factor during their gastronomic tourism session to create memorable dining experience. 33.8% of the respondents with total of 68 people also stated that flavor of the food is an important factor. 9% of the respondents (18 people) stated that flavor of the food is a neutral factor, neither important nor not important, while 0.5% of respondents stated that flavor of the food product is least important and not important at all.

From this figure, we can see that majority of Generation Y individuals perceive that flavor of the food product is a very important part of gastronomic tourism session that determines the memorable dining event, and very low percentages of Generation Y customers perceive flavor as unimportant factor. This proves that flavor is one of the most influencing factors of successful gastronomic tourism activities.

Figure 8. Flavor of the food product Object 15

Food presentation that matched with the concept of food outlets (shape, color, utensils used) Food Presentation Frequency Percentage Not Important 2 1% Least Important 4 2% Neutral 45 22.4% Important 95 47.3% Very Important 55 27.4% Total 201 100%

Table 10. Food Presentation

In food presentation statement, 27.4% of the respondents with the total of 55 people answered that food presentation is rated as a very important factor in determining memorable eating session, while 47.3% of the respondents with the total of 95 people answered that food presentation is rated important. 22.4% of respondents (45 people) stated that food presentation is neither important nor unimportant, while 2% of respondents (4 people) answered that food presentation is a least important factor, and 1% of respondents (2 people) stated that food presentation that matched the concept of food outlets is not important at all.

From the frequency table and figure above, it can be concluded that majority of Generation Y customers see food presentation that matched with the concept of food outlet as an important factor in creating memorable dining session, but not the most important.

Location of the outlet that enhance desires to eat (e.g: accessibility, view)

Location Frequency

Figure 9. Food Presentation Object 17

Percent Not Important 3 1.5% Least Important 8 4% Neutral 52 25.9% Important 84 41.8% Very Important 54 26.9% Total 201 100% Table 11. Location

As for location of the food outlet factor, 26.9% of the respondents with the total of 54 people stated that location of the outlet enhancing desires to eat is a very important factor in order to create memorable dining experiences. 41.8% of respondents with the total of 84 people stated that it is an important factor. 25.9% of the other respondents with the total number of 52 people stated that location is neither important nor unimportant factor during gastronomic tourism session, while 4% respondents with the total number of 8 people stated that location is a least important factor and 1.5% respondents with the total number of 3 people mentioned that location is unimportant at all

The table and figure above have indicated that majority of Generation Y customers perceive location of the food outlet as an important factor in determining the memorable gastronomic tourism session even though not the most important. Thus, it can be concluded that location of the food outlet is perceived as an important factor to create memorable gastronomic tourism session by Generation Y customers in general.

Figure 10. Location Object 20

Service style of the staffs according to food outlet's concept (e.g: staff's uniform, friendliness, delivery process) Service Styles Frequency Percent Not Important 1 0.5% Neutral 27 13.4% Important 83 41.3% Very Important 90 44.8% Total 201 100%

Table 12. Service Styles

When asked if the service styles factor, 44.8% of the respondents (90 people) answered that service styles of the staffs according to food outlet’s concept is a very important factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism activity. Slightly lower percentage stating that 41.3% of the respondents (83 people) stated that service style is an important factor to them. 13.4% respondents with the total number of 27 people answered that service style is neither important nor unimportant factor, while 0% of respondents perceive that service styles is least important, and 0.5% respondents with the total of 1 people perceive service styles as unimportant factor.

The table and figure above have indicate that majority of Generation Y individuals perceive service style provided by staffs in food outlet that matched with the concept is an important factor which determines the memorable gastronomic tourism activity, and very low percentage of Generation Y individuals perceive service styles as unimportant factor. Thus, it can be concluded that service styles is perceived as a very important factor which creates memorable gastronomic tourism session by Generation Y individuals in general.

Ambience of the outlets that gives better explanation of the concept (e.g: Interior and Exterior)

Ambience Frequency Percentage

Not Important 2 1% Least Important 8 4% Neutral 55 27.4% Important 89 44.3% Very Important 47 23.4%

Figure 11. Service Styles Object 23

Total 201 100% Table 13. Ambience

44.3% of the respondents (89 people) answered that ambience of the food outlet that gives better explanation of the outlet’s concept is an important factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism experience, while 23.4% of respondents (47 people) indicated that it is a very important factor. For neutrality, 27.4% respondents (55 people) answered that ambience is neither an important nor unimportant factor, 4% of respondents (8 people) stated that ambience is a least important factor during gastronomic tourism experience, and 1% of respondents (2 people) indicated that ambience of the food outlet is an unimportant factor.

Based on the table and figure above, it can be assumed that majority of Generation Y customers see ambience of the food outlets that gives better explanation of the outlet’s concept towards customers is the important factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism experience. Thus in general, food outlet’s ambience is perceived as an important factor to create memorable gastronomic tourism experience by Generation Y customers.

Cultural Heritage knowledge you obtained (e.g: history behind the food recipe, origin of the material, cooking process) Cultural Knowledge Frequency Percentage Not Important 10 5% Least Important 19 9.5% Neutral 78 38.8% Important 64 31.8% Very Important 30 14.9% Total 201 100%

Table 14. Cultural Knowledge

When it comes to cultural knowledge factor, the majority answers stated that 38.8% of respondents (78 people) stated that cultural knowledge of the food product during eating session is neither important nor unimportant factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism experience. However, 31.8% of respondents (64 people) stated that cultural knowledge is an important factor, while 14.9% of respondents (30 people) answered that cultural knowledge is a very important factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism experience. 9.5% of respondents with the total number of 19 people think that cultural knowledge is a least important factor, and 5% of respondents with the total number of 10

Figure 12. Ambience

Figure 13. Cultural Knowledge Object 27

people perceive that cultural knowledge of the food product is an unimportant factor for gastronomic tourism experience.

Based on the table and figure above, it can be assumed that majority of Generation Y customers see cultural knowledge of food product to be obtained through dining process as a neutral factor for gastronomic tourism experience. However, there is also quite big of percentage of Generation Y customers who perceive that cultural knowledge of the food product is an important factor in building memorable gastronomic tourism experience. This fact indicates even though it’s a bit lower on percentage than other factors, Generation Y customers perceive cultural knowledge of the food product as an important determinant factor in creating memorable gastronomic tourism experience, and they are aware of its existence.

Question 6: Please rate your expectation when you purposely go somewhere to eat.

The objective of this question is to examine the expectation that Generation Y have when they go for gastronomic tourism activity. The respondents are asked to indicate their agreement/ disagreement on the statements mentioned.

The flavor of the food is authentic and unique compared to its competitors

Flavor Frequency Percentage Strongly Disagree 1 0.5% Disagree 2 1% Neutral 25 12.4% Agree 77 38.3% Strongly Agree 96 47.8% Total 201 100%

Table 15. Flavor of the food expected

47.8% of respondents with the total of 96 people strongly agreed that they expect the flavor of the food product provided by outlets are authentic and unique when they go for gastronomic tourism activity. 38.3% respondents with the total of 77 people also agreed that they expect the authenticity of food product for their dining session. 12.4% respondents (25 people) answered neutrally that they neither expect nor neglect food product authentic flavor