When souvenirs meet online shopping – the effect of food souvenir types on online sales

Abstract This study classified food souvenirs into four categories based on two dimensions of product characteristics (i.e., brand awareness and local relevance) and investigated the differences in their online sales. We also explored the role of online sales platforms and geographical distance in moderating the sales differences among different categories of food souvenirs. Real sales data were collected from a regional enterprise that sells food souvenirs on both local and national online shopping platforms. The data include the sales volume of 606 types of food souvenirs from 2015 to 2018. The results show that food souvenirs characterized by strong brand awareness and high local relevance are the first choice of consumers. Interestingly, consumers value brand awareness more than local relevance when purchasing food souvenirs. Furthermore, the sales platform and geographical distance moderate the sales volume of different types of food souvenirs. Finally, implications and recommendations for future research are provided.